We offer our vital care and support in family homes, hospitals, communities across Wales and our purpose-built hospice in Sully, in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Children’s palliative care focuses on the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of a child and their family and aims to improve their quality of life in every possible way.
We provide palliative care from the point a child is diagnosed to the end of the child’s life. This includes access to crisis respite care, symptom management and end-of-life care, alongside access to a range of therapies and activities designed to encourage development whilst distracting from uncomfortable symptoms. If a young person survives into adulthood, we help to make sure their transition to adult services is a smooth one.
Children’s palliative care also involves providing families with help and advice so they can effectively manage their child’s pain and other symptoms.
We also offer parents, siblings and other family members vital emotional support whenever they need it, and bereavement support following the death of a child.
We accept referrals at all stages of a child or young person’s illness. We may also accept children and young people with complex health needs caused by an undiagnosed condition.
If you’re in contact with a child like this and believe the child and their family will benefit from our support, please contact our clinical nurse specialists on clinicalnursespecialists@tyhafan.org or 02920 532200. They’re available 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
They can tell you more about our referral criteria, the free support we offer at our hospice and in the community, and how we can work with you to provide the best possible care.
Some families may be reluctant about accessing support from Tŷ Hafan, as they may automatically think a children’s hospice is a place where children and young people go to die.
We can advise you on some effective ways to discuss Tŷ Hafan with a family, so they feel positive about the wide range of help we can offer them.
We can also provide you with guidance on how to talk sensitively but realistically to families about the implications of their child’s condition.
Please contact our care team on 029 2053 2200 to find out more.
Throughout the time you care for a child with a life-shortening condition and their family, our aim is to work closely with you and other professionals so we provide the most effective multidisciplinary service possible.
We can respond to the changing needs of a family and provide support almost anywhere, including at our hospice, in family homes and in hospitals.
We’ll also ensure links are maintained between all professionals involved in the care of each child. This will include us providing information about the support we provide and changes in a family’s situation.
On top of this, we’re here to answer questions you or your colleagues may have, as well as those of the children, parents and other family members you come into contact with.
We understand that providing care for children and young people with life-shortening conditions can pose many challenges for health and social care professionals.
This is why we’re happy to develop and deliver tailored training to equip professionals with skills and knowledge that helps them provide the most effective support.
We offer training and talks to individuals, groups and organisations about most things linked to supporting a child with a life-shortening condition.
For example, we could help you support students and teachers at your school if one of your pupils has died. Or we could help a soft play centre develop activities for children with complex needs.
We welcome requests from student and qualified health and social care professionals who would like to understand more about palliative care and life at a children’s hospice.
Professionals we’ve offered placements to in the past include nurses, doctors, social workers, physiotherapists, play specialists and music therapists.
Our focus is to work with health and social professionals to make sure children with life-shortening conditions and their families receive the best specialist palliative care and support available. So we have created a list of frequently asked questions to help answer your queries.
And if you can’t find the information you need, please get in touch with our Family Support team at familysupport@tyhafan.org or on 029 2053 2200.
How does Tŷ Hafan meet the palliative care needs of the children it cares for?
What end-of-life care does Tŷ Hafan provide?
Where do the children and young people Tŷ Hafan supports come from?