The Kentown Children’s Palliative Care Programme
The Kentown Children’s Palliative Care Programme is a community-focused initiative in North West England. The first phase of the programme has been covering East Lancashire and South Cumbria. Following the launch of Kentown 2, it also now covers Greater Manchester.
The pilot, a collaboration between Together for Short Lives, Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity and NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, has brought nurses, family support workers and family service co-ordinators together to offer a new, innovative and complementary package of clinical, social, emotional and practical support. The care has been delivered in the home and in the community and adapted to meet the needs of each child and family.
This Kentown programme was funded by The Kentown Wizard Foundation.
Evaluation of the programme
The evaluation, conducted by Edge Hill University and led by Dr. Kate Knighting, found:
- Holistic impact: over 250 families were referred to the programme, with a third benefiting from integrated nursing, family support, and coordination.
- Deep emotional connection: Families felt genuinely seen and heard through relationship-based care, describing the support as having transformed their ability to navigate complex systems.
- Inclusive and accessible: The programme reached families who had not previously accessed specialist children’s palliative care, offering a vital alternative route that embraced the whole family.
Kentown 2
Following its success, the programme has been extended into Greater Manchester, funded by Kentown Support.
By working with the services already in place and adding support where it is needed, the programme brings partners together as one team:
- Together for Short Lives coordinates and helps families navigate services through our Kentown Family Services Coordinators.
- NHS Greater Manchester provides nursing support through dedicated Kentown Support Nurses.
- Gaddum provides therapeutic counselling, sibling support and bereavement support
- Alder Hey Children’s Hospital provides specialist training, telephone advice and supervision for the nursing team.
- A single point of access makes it quicker and simpler for families and professionals to reach the right support.
Through the programme, we aim to help families feel heard, understand what is happening and the choices they have, find out what support is available locally and how to reach it, and have their say in shaping services. We also support the professionals around them to get families the practical and emotional help they need.
Kentown 2 reflects the ambition set out in the UK Government’s modern service framework for Palliative and End of Life Care: equitable access to high quality, responsive support based on need. By working in this way across Greater Manchester, and learning as it goes, the programme aims to bring more consistent, coordinated care to families now, and to inform how children’s community palliative care develops across the UK.
Are you eligible for support?
If you live in East Lancashire, South Cumbria or Greater Manchester and would like to find out if you are eligible for support, please email: enquiries@kentownsupport.org.uk