Securing children’s hospice care for future generations

Formed by the merger of Chestnut Tree House and sister hospice St Barnabas House with Martlets in Hove, our new group aims to deliver sustainable hospice care for our local communities.

I know children’s hospice care is vital to our community, and this week marks the start of Children’s Hospice Week. This is an opportunity for hospices nationally to raise awareness about their work and services.

It seems fitting that I share with you what we are planning to help secure children’s hospice care in our area. This merger – meaning that we are now the largest local hospice care provider in the UK – represented a significant milestone in the sector providing sustainable hospice care for the future and I'm delighted to be joining at this stage in the journey.

Since I started in April, it has been immediately evident how deeply caring my colleagues are. I’ve seen first-hand how the teams at our incredible hospices consistently go above and sometimes far beyond, to ensure young people and their families are receiving the care they want, and deserve, where and when they need it.

However, the demand for our services is growing quickly, and like many in the sector Chestnut Tree House faces a significant financial challenge – it costs almost £6 million each year to provide our services and just 21% of this comes from the government. To overcome these challenges, we need to be brave in our thinking and explore new ways of working whilst remaining true to our core foundations as an established and well-known part of the community, providing essential services to those that need us. This principle will be our unwavering guide as we strive to deliver exceptional care to all those we can reach.

Despite the challenges we face, I am genuinely excited about what we can achieve as one team, building on the rich foundations and distinct strengths found across the hospices, embracing new ideas, and extending our services so that we can help more children and young people that need hospice care in our local communities.

I grew up and live in Sussex, and as a CEO of a charity that is deeply rooted in our community, I hope I can meet and hear from many of our supporters. I am here to listen to you, our patients and my colleagues so that we can shape children’s hospice care that is fit for the future, and can serve more young people that need it across Sussex and South East Hampshire.