Caring for children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions

SfH has identified the workforce functions mapped to the specific National Occupational Standards required to care for children with life-limiting (LL) and life-threatening (LT) conditions.

The new resources make it possible to develop and implement a service and workforce vision unconstrained by professional and organisational boundaries or location.

This jointly-led project between the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), Skills for Health (SfH) and UK children’s palliative care charity ACT, identifies the workforce functions required to develop an effective integrated team around the child or young person with LL or LT conditions.

The range of services available to children with LL and LT conditions and their families are diverse and provided from across a number of sectors, including community health care, acute health care, social care, education and the broader voluntary sector. As the numbers of children are relatively small but the range of service inputs required are diverse, multiple and complex, it is difficult for service commissioners and providers to plan and provide sustainable services for these children and their families. The RCGP and SfH recognise that service commissioners and providers need a way to define the workforce requirements to support children with LL and LT conditions and their families, that could be used to develop innovative, flexible, new ways of working regardless of the service location; at the same time maintaining the essential elements of providing high quality, integrated, and cost effective services with the child and their families at the centre.

View the Working with Children PDF here

Royal College of General Practitioners is the professional membership body for family doctors in the UK and abroad. www.rcgp.org.uk

ACT is the only organisation working across the UK to achieve the best possible quality of life and care for every life-limited or life-threatened child or young person and their family.

To achieve this they:

• Campaign for the development of children’s palliative care services
• Work with professionals to develop best practice
• Empower and support families.

ACT supports a membership of families and children’s palliative care professionals across the UK and provides a national helpline and information service.