Children's hospices

21 April 2011

Tremendous progress has been made in the treatment of childhood cancer in recent years - around three quarters of children diagnosed with cancer now survive.

For around 300 children a year in the UK, however, treatment is not successful. Through our investment in research we are trying to improve the outlook for these children, to drive up the survival rate still further.

In the meantime we do what we can to help families facing the loss of a child.

Hospice care

A network of children’s hospices exists to help and support life-limited children and their families.

Caring for a child with a life-limiting condition can be emotionally, physically and financially demanding. Hospices provide a range of services both at home and in the hospice to help families cope with their situation – and to help them make the most of every day.

Hospice services include short breaks and daytime activities enabling families to have a break, help with symptom control and pain relief, and support for family members, including siblings. Hospices provide a range of services both at home and in the hospice to help families cope with their situation.

When the time comes for the child to die, the children’s hospice services are there to provide end of life care and bereavement support for as long as it’s needed, helping families to approach death with dignity and peace.

All children’s hospice services are charities, relying overwhelmingly on public generosity to continue to provide their services to families in need.

In 2010 we were pleased to support Christopher’s Children’s Hospice in Guildford and Keech Hospice in Luton. We also provided funding to Lifelites to help them provide IT and entertainment equipment for children’s hospices.

Improving end of life care

In addition to providing funds for hospices, we are working with Marie Curie Cancer Care to fund research into improving the lives of terminally ill children.

We are supporting an End of Life Care Research Associate at Great Ormond Street Hospital to carry out practical research that will have a practical impact on children and families so that no child needs suffer severe pain or other negative symptoms at the end of their lives.

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