Cardiff Better at Home Suite is a first for Wales
A new Better at Home Training Suite supported by WellChild Parent Trainer Nurse Laura Truscott-Wright opened this week and is the first of its kind in Wales.
WellChild, the national charity for seriously ill children, is funding the project at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. The post was made possible through a grant from The October Club, an organisation that supports transformational projects in the UK charity sector.
WellChild Better at Home training suites provide home-from-home spaces where parents and carers can learn the often life-saving interventions needed by their child in a safe environment with state-of-the-art simulation equipment. They also provide the opportunity to train extended family members to widen the support network for families. Set-up like a child’s bedroom, they provide a safe space to prepare for providing care in the home.
The aim of clinical skills training for parents and carers is to supportively nurture their competence and confidence in caring for their child and thus support early discharge from hospital and prevent hospital readmission. The training aims to empower families and unpaid carers to provide safe and effective, evidenced based care for their child with complex and often changing medical needs.
Often, training for parents and carers takes place at a child’s hospital bedside prior to discharge home. In some cases, this does not prepare parents and carers for crisis or emergency situations that might arise, and the delivery of the training can be inconsistent, limited and delivered by more than one professional. This can prolong discharge from hospital settings. That’s why Parent Trainers like Laura and the WellChild Better at Home Training Suites are such an important resource for families with complex needs children.
Laura is a dedicated and compassionate paediatric nurse who began her career at Great Ormond Street Hospital after graduating from the University of Glamorgan. She later became a Practice Facilitator in Neurosciences and continued her professional development through undertaking Masters Level Modules at London South Bank University, in addition to completing specialist courses in Mentorship, Neurosciences and High Dependency Care. She achieved her Post Graduate Certificate in Practice Education in 2019, becoming an NMC Teacher.
When the WellChild Parent Trainer post was advertised at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, Laura felt it was her dream job. She feels honoured to be supporting families in their journey from hospital to home, and it brings her joy to see families grow in confidence and develop competence in complex clinical skills.
I feel privileged to be working alongside some truly inspiring people and feel fortunate that this post, funded by WellChild, has allowed training to be delivered in a family-centred way.
Laura said “‘As a WellChild Parent Trainer I am able to support children with complex needs and their families in their journey from hospital to home and continue clinical skills training in the community setting (within our local health board area). I feel inspired by the families that I meet every day, and, whilst it may be my role to educate, I believe that I am also learning from them continuously. I feel privileged to be working alongside some truly inspiring people and feel fortunate that this post, funded by WellChild, has allowed training to be delivered in a family-centred way.
“The Parent Trainer post has been particularly pertinent during the Covid-19 pandemic, to support early discharge from hospital, and ensure that children with exceptional health needs remain safe in the community.”
One child who is already benefitting from the extended support WellChild has enabled is Brody who was born in January 2021. Brody has Charge Syndrome and needed a tracheostomy to breathe at three months old. His mum Megan needed to learn how to care for Brody to take him home from hospital. She was introduced to WellChild Parent Trainer Laura at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and, over the next few months, Laura taught Megan what she needed to know and gave her the confidence to care for Brody and his tracheostomy. Brody was finally able to come home from hospital five months after he was born. Megan and her mum care for Brody, enabled by the training Laura has been able to give them. Brody breathes with a ventilator during the night but manages without it in the daytime.
Laura was really helpful, showing us all sorts of different ways to do things. Brody is a different baby now he is home and is hitting all of his milestones. I keep in contact with Laura and know she is there if I ever need her help and support.
His mum Megan said: “Laura was really helpful, showing us all sorts of different ways to do things. Brody is a different baby now he is home and is hitting all of his milestones. I keep in contact with Laura and know she is there if I ever need her help and support.”
Laura’s manager Alison Davies, Senior Nurse of Children, Young People and Family Health Services said: “Within Cardiff and Vale University Health Board we are extremely proud of the work Laura has undertaken as a Wellchild Parent Trainer and the impact she has made in such a short space of time. Laura commenced her post at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which required her to adjust quickly to her new role to help support children and young people to achieve earlier discharges and avoid hospital admissions. Laura went straight to work emerging herself in the local and national policies, procedures, and strategies to develop robust care pathways and training competencies.
“Laura has worked alongside the multidisciplinary team to consider the evidence base and develop new ways of working to support and deliver essential training for parents of children with complex health needs. In addition to the competency documents Laura has created video resources for them to further enhance training and consolidate learning. Laura has to date trained over three hundred individual family members on a variety of clinical skills in a variety of settings including the family/carers home, hospital and the new Wellchild ‘Training Simulation Suite’.
“In addition to performing her job at an exemplary level, Laura has an infectious zest for life and a ‘can do’ attitude that truly is inspirational. She demonstrates strong leadership and advocates for the children, young people in her care on a daily basis. Laura has undertaken patient feedback surveys to ensure families have a voice in what matters to them and help shape service direction and training requirements. To date she has received overwhelming positive feedback. Laura has made a difference to both service delivery and quality of care and we are extremely grateful to Wellchild for the opportunity to develop this role.”
Matt James, Chief Executive of WellChild, said: “Laura has been a fantastic addition to the WellChild Nurse Network, it is great to be able to expand our services to children and families in Wales and Laura has joined one of our long-standing WellChild Nurses, Rhian Greenslade. Having a dedicated nurse to support families living with a range of issues including Long Term Ventilation is vital to ensure their child thrives at home. Laura has also been able to utilise her multiple clinical skills to help with training during the COVID-19 pandemic. WellChild is very proud of her and all the team in Wales.
“WellChild now has ten Better at Home resources across the UK and this year will see the opening of another one. Every training suite that WellChild can provide will help families like Brody’s to care with confidence and learn the vital skills needed to keep their children safe at home. We are also looking to expand the Better at Home programme further and are inviting applications for the development of new Better at Home training projects.”
WellChild provides essential and practical support to ensure that the increasing number of seriously ill children and young people in the UK have the best chance to thrive – properly supported at home with their families.
