Passport to better understanding of children with special needs

Visitors and staff got the chance to find out more about a new initiative designed to improve care for children with additional needs at an eye-catching display in the ATC on Wednesday (18 May).

 

WellChild nurse Lucy Andrews and Fiona Chilvers, lead nurse in clinic 6, joined forces with Mags Hirst, community play specialist, to host the event showcasing the new 'hospital passport'. Neil Adams, 25, who has helped draw up the document, was also on hand to explain how the project aims to make it easier for healthcare staff to understand their patients' individual needs.

 

The passport has been developed by a team of health professionals working with the Pinpoint network for parents of children with special needs and the Voicability youth parliament, which is made up young people with a learning disability. Designed to be kept with the child and taken to all of their appointments, it details their likes and dislikes, allergies, medical information and the most effective ways to communicate with them.

 

"I have been on the youth parliament for three years and have been talking about lots of different projects like health and staying safe," said Neil, who lives in Earith. "I enjoy it as I feel like my voice is being heard and I'm making a difference to people.

"With this project, we were asked what we thought and if we had any suggestions for making the passport better. We changed some things to make it more friendly and are really pleased with how it looks now. I think it will be really helpful for young people when they go into hospital."

 

The colourful eight-page passport (download below) is split into sections detailing 'things you must know about me', 'things that are important to me' and 'my likes and dislikes'. It is similar to the document which is available for adults with a learning disability.

 

"The passport aims to improve communication between hospital staff and children with special needs by giving us a host of important information about their condition and own unique character," said Lucy.

 

"It will act as a 'one stop shop' for information about our patients and will be an important tool for planning their care, in turn bringing bring benefits for everyone. Hopefully, it will also have a positive impact on the experience which the children and their families have while accessing healthcare services.

 

"The Voicability group has been instrumental in helping us get everything right and are really enthusiastic to work with. We'd like to thank them for their help with getting this project off the ground."

 

Children's passport (241 KB)

 

 

 

 

 

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