We support families with a child or children whose condition needs nursing advice and support, and whose General Practitioner (GP) is in Oxfordshire.

We can help if you child:

• Depends on technology, for example home ventilation or oxygen therapy
• Needs a complex drugs regimes
• Needs intravenous drugs
• Has chronic constipation
• Has severe eczema
• Has complex feeding needs
• Has a chronic illness, special and/or complex health needs

We also provide:

• Palliative care and care for a dying child
• Bereavement visits
• Any nursing procedure that can be safely undertaken at home
• Training to carers (from any organisation) who help care for a child

We work seven days a week, from 8 am to 8 pm.

Referrals

We accept referrals from parents, GPs, health visitors, district nurses, social workers, nursing staff, therapists, and other care organisations: fill in the general, constipation clinic, or eczema clinic referral form, and email it back to us.

We work with the children’s community nurses, to offer respite care at home for children with complex healthcare needs.

Our team consists of registered children’s nurses and a play specialist, and all the nurses are experienced at working with a wide range of children and their families.

We are guided by Oxfordshire’s shared care protocols, and children must live in Oxfordshire to be eligible to receive care.

We work Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 5.00pm, but we try to be as flexible as possible and we will consider occasional weekday evenings.  We may also be able to offer more respite case if there is an acute illness or a crisis.

Our sessions are normally three hours in duration, weekly or fortnightly.

Any healthcare professional can make a referral, after a discussion with the family. Referrals can be made by telephone, email or post: please use our general referral form.

We are particularly grateful for done by ROSY (part of the Oxford Health charity), who raise awareness and funding so that the team can help more people.

You can read more what we do in our leaflet.

Contact us

Use the contact details below, or phone the Respite Co-ordinator’s mobile 07768 654 901.

We provide high quality nursing care to children and young people who are in schools or other community settings.

We work in designated special schools across Oxfordshire, to enable all children to access education regardless of their health needs. We also work to ensure that these health needs are met while children are in education.

We do this by:

• Assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating children’s health needs
• Training, advising and supporting school staff with health tasks and care that a child may need during the school day. We provide training under the Oxfordshire Shared Care Protocols
• Working with health, social care and education agencies to make sure that every child’s needs are met
• Promoting a healthy lifestyle, empowering children and families to make healthy choices
• Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, including working with parents and carers to support them with advice and information, as well as signposting to relevant agencies.

Contact us

You can contact the clinical nurse specialist via the Community Children’s Nurse Office (details below). Alternatively, contact the individual schools we work with:

• Bardwell School
• Bishopswood School
• Fitzwaryn School
• Frank Wise School
• John Watson School
• Kingfisher School
• Mabel Prichard School
• Springfield School

The training coordinator is a children’s nurse who coordinates the training of carers and support workers who help children with specific health needs in various community settings.

It is normally a health professional known to the child and family who undertakes the training, following the Oxfordshire Shared Care Protocols.

We can help any carer or support worker that cares for a child with specific health needs within an Oxfordshire-based community setting, and needs level 3 or level 4 Shared Care Protocol training.

Referrals

Referrals can be made from any agency working with children with specific health needs – please contact the Community Children’s Nursing Team (details below).

A community play specialist provides and facilitates specialist play activities that support the development, emotional and psychological needs of children who who are being cared for by the Community Children’s Nurse Service.

We can accept referrals for any child being helped by Community Children’s Nursing Service who has a disability, or is experiencing difficulties coping with medical procedures and treatments that may result in:

• changes in behaviour
• regression, anxiety or fear.

We can also accept referrals for siblings of children we are helping, who are experiencing difficulty understanding and dealing with their brother or sister’s illness or death.

We offer ninety minute sessions in the child’s own home, which can be either non-directed play sessions or planned informative sessions. This type of session can help prepare children for medical interventions or procedures.

We can visit you on Mondays and Wednesdays, between 9:30am – 5:30pm, or Fridays between 9:30am – 4.00pm.

Referrals

We accept referrals from hospital play specialists, nursing staff, therapists, social workers, and families known to the Community Children’s Nursing Team (details below). Find out more in our leaflet.