The Paediatric Palliative Care Team is located on Level 10 of the Support Building.
The term "palliative care" is used to describe the care and support that is provided to people who have a life-limiting or life-threatening illness.
- Life-limiting conditions are those for which there is no reasonable hope of cure and from which children or young people will die. Some of these conditions can cause children to deteriorate over time, making them increasingly dependent on parents and carers.
- Life-threatening conditions are those for which curative treatment may be possible but may fail, such as children with cancer. This does not include children who have had successful curative treatment or are in long-term remission.
In the case of children, palliative care involves:
- ensuring the child is comfortable and in the best possible condition so that they can go about doing things that are important and fun (such as going to school or kindergarten)
- helping families with difficult decisions
- supporting parents
- helping parents to support their child around any worries or questions they might have
- helping parents support the brothers and sisters of the sick child
- providing practical help with equipment, medications and respite care
-
ensuring families are able to access support in bereavement.
|
“Palliative care for children and young people with life-limiting conditions is an active and total approach to care, embracing physical, emotional, social and spiritual elements. It focuses on enhancement of quality of life for the child and support for the whole family and includes the management of distressing symptoms, provision of respite and care from diagnosis through death and bereavement”. The Association for Children's Palliative Care (ACT), UK and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), UK. 1993.
|
The aim of palliative care is to achieve the best quality of life for children until they die, whenever that may be, preferably in a place of the child's and family's choosing.
For more information, see:
- Palliative care for children (at the kidshealth parent information website)
Who are we?
The Paediatric Palliative Care service is a multidisciplinary team, comprising a:
The Paediatric Palliative Care service is a multidisciplinary team, comprising a:
-
Specialist Paediatrician
-
Nurse Specialist
-
Specialist Paediatric Social Worker
-
Grief and Bereavement Counsellor
-
Child Psychiatrist
The team is based at Starship Children's Health but most of the time works in the community. Team members assess individual needs, co-ordinate access to community resources, provide a link between hospital and community and liaise with and support community carers such as general practitioners, community paediatric nurses and hospice workers.