Vital support for seriously ill children and families in Oxleas thanks to new Better at Home Training Suite
Seriously ill children and their families in Southeast London are getting vital help as their carers receive training to support them at home in a new Better at Home Training Suite at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust.
WellChild, the national charity for seriously ill children, is funding the project for the Children’s Community Nursing Teams (Greenwich and Bexley) at Oxleas. The project was made possible through a grant from the Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust.
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 simulation equipment. They provide the opportunity to train extended family members to widen the support network for families as well as training for health and other professionals who may be involved in the child’s care. Set-up like a child’s bedroom, they provide a safe space to prepare for providing care in the home.
The suite is based in the community in the offices of the Children’s Continuing Care and Children’s Special Schools Nursing Team. The team are fully staffed and have a clinical skills lead and trainer in post.
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 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. That’s why the WellChild Better at Home training suites are such an important resource for families of children with complex needs.
In future, families like Noah Barrow and his parents Mags and Dean will benefit from having this training in the Better at Home suite.
Noah has a life limiting condition called H-abc with symptoms which include Dystonia, Epilepsy, GDD, Scoliosis, feeding issues which mean he is PEG fed, and Visual Impairment. He began to develop symptoms within a few weeks of his birth. Later the family received the sad diagnosis of his condition and that he would be severely disabled.
At five months old he was able to come home from hospital and the family had to navigate a new world with many visits from health professionals and, as time went on, the support of carers in their home. Among those who support the family is WellChild Nurse Madeleine who ensures they have all the right support in place to care for Noah and are enabled to care for him appropriately as well as being able to look after themselves.
The Better at Home training suite is among the things which plays an important role for Noah’s family, giving them reassurance that he is in safe hands and that the carers not only have a high standard of general training, but also understand Noah’s specific needs.
“The training suite obviously plays an important role here, replicating a child’s room and covering various scenarios that might occur before encountering this in a patient’s home. Not only do we want carers who look after Noah to be appropriately skilled but also feel as confident in looking after him as possible.
“Noah’s condition is progressive and therefore his condition is ever changing. It’s reassuring to think that families such as us would be able to have access to a training suite should their children require more intervention and medical equipment rather than training at the bedside in hospital which doesn’t really replicate how things operate.”
Becks Mortimer, Head of Nursing, Children and Young People’s Services, at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust said: “It has been wonderful for our Children’s Community Nursing teams (Greenwich and Bexley) at Oxleas to collaborate with WellChild on this fantastic innovative project. The new simulation training room creates a true to life learning space which accurately reflects a similar environment to a child’s bedroom at home. This unique replica space allows nurses and care staff to practice skills and knowledge in an area that has similar opportunities and challenges to the environment they will be actually working in.
“In addition, this suite will be used to train parents, carers and families in developing clinical skills that will facilitate early discharge from hospital, enhance good quality care for children in the community and improve the relationship between care staff and families. This type of simulation training space is ground-breaking for our community children’s services as traditionally nurses and carers would only be able to train in a clinical hospital setting which isn’t representative of the home environment in which they work, day to day.”
Matt James, Chief Executive of WellChild said: “It is great to be able to expand our services to children and families in Southeast London.
“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 Noah’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.
“A huge thank you to the Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust, who are funding this project as part of a wonderful £350,000 investment in WellChild’s nationwide Better At Home Programme. This funding is a huge boost. By expanding this vital programme to new parts of the UK, we can give more parents and carers the skills and confidence to care for their children safely at home, where they will have the very best chance to thrive.”
Richard Benson, the Director of The Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust said: “The Trust is delighted to support WellChild’s Better at Home Programme. Better At Home meets a huge unmet need and the training suite at Oxleas has the potential to deliver transformational, practical support for families in the area”.
