Children’s Hospital to become training hospital in paediatric palliative medicine
Birmingham Children’s Hospital is to become a training hospital in paediatric palliative medicine and will be providing training for two new consultants thanks to funding by a children’s charity in neighbouring Warwickshire.
News of the funding, which will double the number of existing roles in the region, came during a special event in the city last week hosted by Molly Ollys, which is donating more than £310,000 to cover two years of training, supported by corporate supporters, Oakland International.
The charity, which supports children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, funded the region’s first ever consultant in paediatric palliative medicine between 2018 and 2021, since when the post has been permanently incorporated by the NHS.
There are currently only 25 such speciailists in the UK. Nationally there is a shortage of between fifty to sixty consultants within this specialist Paediatric Palliative Medicine service which helps enable patients to live their best life.
The funding has been particularly welcomed by the hospital’s current Consultants Yifan Liang and Christine Mott.
Yifan said: “With the current consultant numbers, we are only capturing the most needy children and there’s a lot more need that we could be addressing.
“This vital business funding will enable us to provide the capacity to serve families better through planning, clinical reviews and which will be more sustainable for everyone concerned.
“Thanks to Molly Ollys, Oakland International, and other corporate businesses supporting this much needed initiative, we are starting to see change and helping families in the way they want and need for the short and long term, and getting the end results for individuals as we roll it out and help more people.”
Molly Ollys was established following the death of Rachel and Tim Ollerenshaw’s eight-year-old daughter Molly from a rare kidney cancer and marked its tenth anniversary last year.
Since Molly Ollys started more than £4 million has been raised to emotionally support children across the UK.
Rachel said: “The need for Consultant-led Paediatric Palliative care is far more important than many realise and primarily that is the case because it is a world that few people fortunately have inhabited.
“From our own experiences with Molly we realised the importance of enabling a good death. Molly had a choice, as parents and her family we had a choice thanks to the support of a consultant in Warwickshire where we live. However, we realised that that care was different down the road in the West Midlands.
“So, Molly Ollys plugged that gap by paying for the first consultant for three years in order to prove the need for the NHS to then take this forward. Once proved Birmingham Children’s Hospital quickly appointed a second consultant with the help of Acorns Hospice. Two consultants meant that BCH could become a training hospital.
“We are therefore delighted that we can continue this project with the funding of training for two more consultants.”
Anyone wishing to donate to Molly Ollys can do so by clicking here.
Pictured: Rachel Ollerenshaw announces the funding
