ACT - The Association for Children's Palliative Care

·        Children’s palliative care ‘test case’ for new, devolved NHS
 
·        £20 million for children’s hospice services; extra for PCTs unclear
 
·        Minister wants ‘major changes’ within 18 months
 
 
The Children’s Palliative Care Alliance, a consortium of leading children’s and healthcare charities, has welcomed today’s government strategy, ‘Better Care: Better Lives’, for improving the care and support given to children in England with life-limiting or life-threatening condition and their families.
 
Speaking at today’s launch, Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis described the provision of support for children and families with palliative care needs as “The test of an effective, modern, compassionate health and social care system”. He added that if within 18 months major changes hadn’t happened, “then I think we would be worried”.

Lizzie Chambers, chief executive of the Association for Children’s Palliative Care (ACT) and co-chair of the Alliance commented:
 
“The implementation of this new strategy will test whether the new devolved Health Service can work for those children whose needs are greatest but whose numbers are small.
 
" ‘Better Care: Better Lives’ will give commissioners the information and guidance they need to ensure that children's palliative care services are developed in a strategic and planned way to meet the needs of all children and young people with life-limiting conditions and their families.
 
The Alliance also welcomed a £20m emergency funding boost for children’s hospice services in England through to 2011. Barbara Gelb, chief executive of the Association of Children’s Hospices (ACH) and the Alliance’s other co-chair, said:
 
“This is wonderful news. Children’s hospice services will still rely heavily on public goodwill for most of their income. This funding gives them a very welcome additional two years to engage with local commissioners to gain secure, long-term funding. And the overall strategy offers commissioners a first-rate route map for providing the full range of children’s palliative care services.
 
The Alliance also called for the government to spell out exactly how much new funding individual PCTs have been allocated for children’s palliative care.
 
Lizzie Chambers added:
 
“The government can no longer tell Primary Care Trusts how to spend their money, so all children’s palliative care providers will have to work harder to persuade and support PCTs to improve the services that life-limited children so badly need.”
 
Barbara Gelb added:
 
“PCTs tell us it would help them to know exactly how much extra money they have been given for children’s palliative care and we will continue to press the government for this information.”