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Sir Teddy Taylor (Southend, East) rose--
Mr. David Amess (Basildon) rose--
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order. Is it the wish of the Minister that the two hon. Gentlemen participate in the 11 minutes left to him to answer?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Mr. John Horam) indicated assent.
10.40 pm
Sir Teddy Taylor (Southend, East): I welcome what my hon. Friend the Member for Castle Point (Dr. Spink) has said about the children's hospice in his constituency. He will know that the action was initiated in the Fair Havens hospice, with which I have had the pleasure of being associated as its president for many years.
The crucial factor that I hope that hon. Members will bear in mind is that the hospice movement is a costly organisation to run. I was sometimes appalled at management meetings at the way in which others looked forward to the expansion of the hospice movement because the resources are based simply on faith and optimism. However, the other committee members have always been right and I have been wrong--the money has always been made available.
As my hon. Friend has rightly said, the hospice movement in Southend has been safeguarded and developed because of astonishing generosity on the part of the community. Only last week I had the pleasure of being on the Southend seafront when a gentleman whose relative had been in the hospice said that he wanted to show his gratitude by cycling all the way from Glasgow to Southend-on-Sea. I know that it will be quite a journey as it is one that I have undertaken in other ways on many occasions.
The only thing that worries me is that, while I have the optimism and faith because of my contact with Fair Havens hospice in Southend, it has been developing and expanding at a furious pace. We provide a wonderful home-care service and aftercare; we have developed the service in many ways and we find that the costs are substantially increasing. The hospice has been kept going owing to the generosity of the people of Southend.
Mr. David Amess (Basildon):
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Castle Point (Dr. Spink) on securing this debate tonight. It is particularly appropriate because I am advised that my hon. Friend's son George was today awarded a distinction in surgery and MBBS honours at King's, London--and that in addition to a host of other educational qualifications that he has. I only hope that some of my children do as well as my hon. Friend's son.
In Basildon we have St Luke's; Fair Havens is in the constituency of my right hon. Friend the Member for Southend, West (Mr. Channon). We all pray that eventually cancer is eradicated. For a long time there has been a gap in our area in terms of the care for children. All of us with children can well appreciate the terrible consequences when a child becomes ill. In Basildon, a member of the general public has founded a support group known as Cushions, which tries to give some support to the parents of children with cancer. The Little Haven project is also doing magnificent work.
My hon. Friend the Member for Castle Point touched on the fact that the partners of Essex Members will endeavour to raise funds over the course of the coming year.
I conclude with a quotation from the team at the Little Haven hospice:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Mr. John Horam):
I too congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Castle Point (Dr. Spink) on raising this very important matter. I congratulate him on a fluent and warm-hearted speech. Children's hospices have come a long way since the first purpose-built hospice in Britain--or anywhere in the world--was opened in Oxford in 1982.
Increasingly, we are recognising the important role that children's hospices play in the care of children suffering from life-threatening or life-limiting illnesses, for whom there is no hope of cure. Children have needs that are very different from adults', and different skills are required to care for them. Perhaps more meaningful for many is the important part that hospices can play in bringing support to the families of those children. More and more it is being seen that the hospices go beyond the care of a terminally ill child and provide support for the whole family.
Many, if not all, hospices now include family rooms and accommodation for brothers and sisters. That gives all the family, especially the parents, the chance of respite and a break from constant attendance to their child. They get a chance to relax in a homely, non-hospital environment with others of similar experiences. My hon. Friend talked of the joy and happiness that can be found in these circumstances, and I am sure that he was right.
In the case of some of the rarer conditions, many parents build up a unique knowledge of their child and of the management of that child's condition. The sharing of these experiences with other parents can be a source of great strength and comfort; especially when, as often happens with the rarer genetic disorders, parents have responsibility for more than one sick child.
This leads to the recommendation that if a child is to attend a hospice, it should be one that is child-oriented and properly dedicated to the care of children and their special requirements, not part of an adult facility. Adult hospices that want to include children should develop separate facilities especially equipped to cater for their special needs.
It is now generally accepted that most families want to care for their sick child at home for as long as they can, and that many parents want their child to die at home. Their wishes need to be respected, and children with life-threatening illnesses should receive care based on their home. However, in meeting these wishes parents will need help and support. There are many ways to support those families, depending on their precise needs and on what contribution children's hospices can make to meeting the needs of the child and family. As new services are introduced, their effectiveness must be looked at.
So in 1992 we launched a programme to run for five years, with the overall aim of forming a better appreciation of the services that are most beneficial to seriously ill children and their families. One million pounds a year has been provided to fund this programme. By the time it ends, in March 1997, support will have been given to about 40 projects, ranging in size from under £1,000 to some over £200,000. They are spread evenly across England, and include initiatives in both statutory and voluntary sectors. All break new ground, and range from pioneering community home nursing services to support for voluntary respite care within a hospice dedicated to children.
Various projects aim to explore the contribution that community paediatric teams, especially paediatric nurses, can make to help those families. Other developments have been supported by the programme, including the concept of the hospice at home--this can be either an outreach facility from an existing hospice or a domiciliary nursing service provided by a voluntary or statutory organisation that seeks to help with the management of the sick child's symptoms in the home.
Little Haven hospice at Southend-on-Sea, of which my hon. Friend is the patron, has been awarded a modest grant from programme funds in support of a local survey that it is mounting to validate the information that is available on the children in its immediate area who may require its services.
The importance of children's hospices is being increasingly recognised by the health service. Children's hospices now have access to health service funding on the same basis as adult hospices. Since 1994, funds have been included in health authority allocations for the purchase of palliative care services. Health authorities can now commission palliative care services for all their populations, including children. They are no longer restricted, as they were at one time, to supporting adult hospices--they can include children with life-threatening illnesses. They have been given the power to decide for themselves the appropriate amount of funding to meet the needs of their local populations in this regard.
While domiciliary services may be the first line of support for families, when the services of a children's hospice are seen to have an important role to play, contracts can be arranged and funds can be provided. I understand that some hospices now receive a significant part of their funds through service contracts.
I value highly the dedication and commitment of all those involved in the children's hospice movement. Many people put in many thousands of hours of their own time to raise money and to run events in support of the hospices, including my hon. Friend and his friends. Without their effort, the lives of many children and their families would be definitely a good deal poorer.
Question put and agreed to.
"As a team we are very conscious of our own inadequacies. We feel that we are one group of people offering simply to be alongside another group of people sharing something of their immense pain and brokenness and knowing that we receive as much, probably more, than we can give. We do not have clever answers, but we are willing to share ourselves and our vulnerability."
It is very difficult to add to that.
10.45 pm
24 Jun 1996 : Column 133Adjourned accordingly at nine minutes to Eleven o'clock.
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