Children's hospice aims to restart 24/7 care

A recruitment drive had taken place to employ more nurses after a national shortage, the hospice said

Bosses at a children's hospice charity hope to offer 24-hour care seven days a week again, two years after clinical services at the site were temporarily suspended due to a lack of staff.

Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice near Rotherham provides specialist care to youngsters with life-threatening illnesses in South Yorkshire and parts of the East Midlands.

In May 2022, clinical services were suspended at the site for about seven months due to the national staff crisis in the care sector following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Heidi Hawkins, the charity's CEO, said the last few years had been "tough", but there were now plans to support families every hour and every day of the week after a recruitment drive.

Clinical services restarted at the hospice in December 2022, but it has taken 18 months for the charity, based in North Anston, to get up to speed again, offering five-day-a-week care for young people and families.

However, there were plans for this to expand to seven days a week, Ms Hawkins said.

The hospice, near Rotherham, offers respite and end-of-life care for children

"It was time we took a bit of stock and we reviewed the care that needed to be provided for the future," she said.

"We have a new nurse-led model of care."

The team of "highly experienced nurses" was led by an advanced nurse practitioner, which would make them "robust, responsive and sustainable" in the care they delivered, Ms Hawkins added.

That would allow children and their families to receive the most appropriate care and respite all week.

Seven-day care, as well as end-of-life care, would open again once more people were recruited, Ms Hawkins said.

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