A NEW out of hours end of life nursing service will give families across North Wales choice of where their seriously ill child dies.

This has been launched via a partnership between Ty Gobaith Children’s Hospice and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB).

Until now, most end-of-life care for children in the region takes place at the hospice or in hospital, but research indicates that most families would choose for their child to die at home.

The new out-of-hours end of life nursing service will allow families to make a choice and create a network of nurses to support them in their own home.

Angharad Davies, Ty Gobaith head of care, said: “This partnership is about giving families choice. We know that most families want to be at home with appropriate support.

“Together we will provide support 24 hours a day, seven days a week to enable this support to happen.”

She added that some families had received this support in the past, but that was through the goodwill of nursing staff and dependent on factors such as where the family lived.

The initiative has been funded for two years by the All Wales End of Life Board and Betsi Cadwaladr. It will be led by an end-of-life coordinator based at Ty Gobaith and staffed by an end-of-life team of hospice nurses, hospital nurses, community nurses and CLIC nurses.

Barbara Evans, vice chair of Hope House Children’s Hospices which includes Ty Gobaith, said: "This initiative is a truly effective use of experience and resources.

"Partnership working is the only way forward and I am sure it is going to be really successful, which can only be good for the families.”