New WellChild Nurse in Birmingham will Support Children with Complex Medical Needs
The new post, funded by WellChild, will provide vital help and support to families with children who require long-term ventilation to help them breathe.
WellChild, the national charity for seriously ill children, has announced Nicky Holt from Lichfield as their 53rd WellChild Nurse to work with children across the West Midlands at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. The new post, funded by WellChild, will provide vital help and support to families with children who require long-term ventilation to help them breathe.
As the 53rd nurse in WellChild’s national network, Nicky Holt has spent her 20-year career working specifically with children in intensive care. Her new post as WellChild Tracheostomy Specialist Nurse means she will be working with children and young people across the Midlands with very complex medical needs who require tracheostomies to help them breathe.
The WellChild Nurse programme was established to address a clear gap in the provision of care and support for children with long-term serious illness and complex medical needs. The charity aims to provide the necessary resources, training and support to get children home who are often stuck living in hospital. In addition to keeping families together and benefitting a child’s development, it is often more cost efficient to care for a child at home than in hospital. WellChild estimate that they have saved the NHS over £6m by preventing hospital admissions.
Being a WellChild Nurse is a huge privilege and honour. Through my role I not only get to make a positive impact on the children and young people with tracheostomies and their families, but also be part of an amazing network of WellChild Nurses
“Having the opportunities to share working practises, attend conferences and showcase the work we are doing is strengthening my ability to support our children and young people with medical complexities to really thrive both at home and in their communities.” – WellChild Nurse Nicky Holt.
One child who will be benefitting from the extended support WellChild has already enabled is 18-month old Sulaiman from Hall Green who was born prematurely and has a number of complex medical conditions including a very rare condition known as SMARD 1 which means he requires a ventilator to help him breathe.
Nicky is absolutely amazing. We first met her on a long stay in hospital and since then she has been heavily involved in our journey. Her support and her guidance have been incredible and the tracheostomy training we’ve received from her is invaluable.
“She even organised a birthday party for Sulaiman and that’s something we’ll never forget and always be grateful for. I’m so pleased that she’s now officially a WellChild Nurse and I’m sure many more children will benefit from her experience, expertise and kindness.” – Afshana
“We are incredibly proud to announce Nicky as our 53rd WellChild Nurse. This nationwide network of experts is a cornerstone of our work to ensure that children with complex medical needs can live the lives that they deserve and to truly thrive, at home, with their families.
“It’s a growing issue with over 100,000 children now estimated to be living with long term serious health conditions, but it’s having nurses like Nicky in her new role that help us to ensure parents are equipped with the skills, confidence and resilience that they need to care for their child outside of hospital.” – Matt James, WellChild CEO
