Blackpool's Brian House hospice joins call for funding to give families a break

The children’s hospice for the Fylde coast, Brian House is joining other children’s hospices across the country in a call to Chancellor Rishi Sunak for vital funding help.

Together, they are asking the Government to create a ringfenced £434million grant for local councils to fill the funding gap in social care services for disabled children.

They say local authorities would be able to use this money to fund short breaks of respite care for serious ill and disabled children at their local children’s hospice.

The campaign comes as new research estimates that more than one in 10 of parents of children who need respite at a local hospice, like Brian House, would experience significantly less stress and improved mental and physical health if they could all access them.

Leading the campaign are children’s hospice charity Together for Short Lives and Julia’s House Children’s Hospice in Dorset and Wiltshire.

Brain House chief executive, David Houston, said: “The pressure on families caring for a seriously ill child with complex needs is immense.

“The burden of caring for a child 24/7 and the knowledge that your child will die young can be too much to bear, so having access to regular short

breaks is vital to relieve this stress, spend time as a family and do the things that other families do.

"Yet, on average, local authority funding for short breaks for children’s hospices across England was cut by 12 per cent in 2019/20.

“The short breaks that Brian House provide are a lifeline for terminally ill children and their families.

"Parents tell us how important they are to help them recharge their batteries and spend time just being mum and dad, away from the twenty four-seven caring responsibilities that come

with looking after a seriously ill child.

“The pressure of lockdown has meant that these breaks are now more important than ever.

"We are incredibly grateful for the vital support we receive from our local community that helps to fund these breaks.

"But we also need the government to step up and make sure local councils provide funding to sustain regular short breaks for families now and into the

future.”

The new research, by Pro Bono Economics in association with volunteers from Compass Lexecon, found that reduced stress leads to improved physical health among carer parents, which in turn leads to reduced number of GP visits .

Reduced stress leads to improved mental health among carer parents, which in turn reduces the use of mental health services and the associated costs.

And short breaks are also likely to have a positive impact on siblings and reduce the risk of parental relationships breaking up.