Sunshine House is Investor in Children
14 June, 2017
The local community children’s nursing team, including Sunshine House, a service for children and young people with long term or life limiting conditions, has achieved the Investing in ChildrenTM Membership Award, which recognises and celebrates examples of imaginative practice with children and young people.
Sunshine House is run by City Health Care Partnership CIC (CHCP CIC) and provides short breaks for children with complex health needs as well as end of life care for those whose families request it. The Investing in ChildrenTM assessor visited Sunshine House in April 2017 and met with staff members; she also talked to four children who use the service.
The assessor wanted to find out how Sunshine House staff talk to children and families about the service and find out what their views and wishes are so they can make changes and improvements. She was impressed to find that, for example, the children asked for more visits from outside organisations so they could have new experiences and that wildlife experts have brought in birds and animals including birds of prey and reptiles; the children have even set up their own chick-hatching project.
“We got our own chicks; we had the eggs and saw them hatch,” said one child. “We have our own guinea pigs called Hank and Henry,” another child commented.
Children of all ages are involved in the recruitment of new staff for Sunshine House; they have interviewed nurses and health care support workers, meaning that they can help to choose the right people to work with them.
The assessor’s report says, “The most lasting impression from Sunshine House is the very calm and relaxed atmosphere in which children can play, chat, relax and spend their time how they choose.”
Jackie Griffiths, general manager at CHCP CIC, is delighted that the community children’s nursing team has achieved this award. “The wellbeing of the children and young people we look after and their families is the most important thing for us,” she said. “It’s wonderful to have our work recognised in this way and we will carry on doing the best we possibly can for those in our care.”
