Services

WellChild Nurse and Triage

Our WellChild Nurse is funded by WellChild, the national charity aimed at making it possible for seriously ill children, young people and their families to be cared for at home instead of hospital, wherever possible.  

About this service

Our WellChild Nurse is a part of the community children’s nursing team. Providing essential care and practical support to children and young people with exceptional health needs and their families, our WellChild Nurse plays a crucial role in enabling children to leave hospital and be cared for at home, reducing the practical, emotional and financial impact for families. 

We work across organisations within the integrated paediatric teams to proactively manage, coordinate and support an identified caseload of children and young people with complex care needs. Our WellChild Nurse is the nominated key worker to coordinate the child’s care once at home, in particular facilitating communication between health, social and educational services and ensuring that the health and social care needs of each individual in our care has been met.

We maintain lines of communication across all services, communicating changes in circumstances across service providers and speak on behalf of children and young people and their families in an advocacy capacity when required.

We liaise and build relationships with professionals within and outside of Gloucestershire to coordinate care and improve the experience for the child and young person and their family and carers.

Our aim is to:

  • ensure that all health and social care needs are met to improve health and quality of life
  • ensure integration of all elements of care including across multiple providers both in and out of county
  • improve the experience and choice of children, young people and families by ensuring the voice of the child is paramount
  • provide a consistent individual to coordinate all aspects of care across multiple providers and practitioners
  • reduce the number of times the family have to tell their story
  • and improving safety by coordinating the multiagency team around the child and young person and their individual needs.

Referrals

We accept referrals from parents and professionals where the child or young person is either:

  • receiving prolonged inpatient care at level 3/4 Tertiary care managed by two or more specialist teams; Tertiary care managed by one specialist team but with health complications or
  • where their condition is complex to manage such as an organ transplant, complex multi-system condition, acquired brain injury or significantly life-limiting.

…and where:

  • there is no clear overriding diagnosis which accounts for all the medical conditions or if there is ongoing conflict around the assessment or care plan for the condition
  • the child or young person needs a central point of communication to guide and support a family through transition points – for example from hospital to home or between services
  • the child or young person is not engaging with education or where there is no discernible, consistent understanding of their educational needs
  • there are social concerns such as housing, economic situation, or parental capacity to manage the condition.

Contact details

Telephone:

0300 421 8299

Address:

Springbank Community Resource Centre, Cheltenham, GL51 0LG

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Locations

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