Seriously ill children do not have time to wait

Reacting to Rishi Sunak’s appointment as Prime Minister, Andy Fletcher, Chief Executive of Together for Short Lives said:

“The new Prime Minister has acknowledged the economic crisis that the UK is in and has said that he will be compassionate in addressing the challenges the government faces.

“Seriously ill children and their families need Rishi Sunak to realise these commitments now. They are faced with soaring energy costs and patchy access to children’s palliative care services that depend on where they live. They need sustainably staffed and funded services in hospitals, homes and children’s hospices.”

“We want the new government to provide urgent financial support to these vulnerable children and families to help them meet the higher energy costs they face. We need the £300million children’s palliative care funding gap in England to be filled and we want to see the £25million Children’s Hospice Grant protected and extended. The government should develop a children’s palliative care workforce plan to deliver more professionals to care for seriously ill children – and to make the most of those that we currently have.”