A team of Spanish doctors and nurses have travelled to Chorley to help realise their dream of building Spain’s first-ever children’s hospice.
The paediatric palliative care team from Cudeca adult hospice, in Malaga, travelled to the UK for the weeklong fact-finding mission, including a day at Derian House Children’s Hospice.
Their aim was to gain inspiration and best practice to take back home for their project which will see seriously ill children in Spain getting the very best care. Whereas the UK is home to 54 children’s hospices, in Spain, there are none.
Derian House was the last stop on the team’s tour of UK children’s hospices as part of their trip.
Paediatrician Ana Devesa del Valle, social worker Lorena Vanzini, psychologist Juan del Campo Contreras, nurse Elisa Romero Montero, and physiotherapist Carolina Martín Bermúdez, took a tour of the hospice and chatted to children and staff.
Juan, who is a magician in his spare time, even shared some magic trick secrets with Junior, 15, who was staying at Derian House for a short break.
Ana Devesa del Valle, Paediatrician at Cudeca Hospice in Malaga, said: “We visited Derian House and it was an amazing experience for the whole team. We had the opportunity to look at the facilities and meet the wonderful professionals who work there and who, thanks to their training and experience, offer quality care to children, young people and their families.
“We were lucky enough to meet one of the teenagers who regularly comes to Derian – Junior aka “the Boss”, who told us about all the fun things he does at the hospice and impressed us with one of the magic tricks he had learnt.”
While in the UK, the group also visited Claire House Children’s Hospice, on the Wirral, Hope House Children’s Hospice, in Shropshire, and Helen and Douglas House, in Oxford.
“One of the things that caught our attention, and which is still to be developed in Spain, was the respite offer that Derian House provides for the child and their family,” continued Ana.
“On the one hand, the family is provided with time off to rest and disconnect from care. On the other hand, the child can be cared for in the hospice with a wide range of activities, therapies, excursions and the possibility to meet other children and make friends.
“We were very impressed by the swimming pool and the multi-sensory area, as well as the cinema room. And we loved the outdoor areas – necessary to relax and connect with the environment and nature.
“We were really impressed by the hospice’s end-of-life care. And the Sunflower Rooms, which give families more time to say goodbye. Not just that, but at Derian House, all the professionals remember every child who ever used the hospice.
“After our visit to Derian House, we returned to Spain with many ideas to implement in our hospice and also with new colleagues and friends to lean on and continue learning with. Derian House is an inspiration to us, a wonderful, child and family-centered model of pediatric palliative care. Thank you for teaching us so many things.”
The team from Cudeca Hospice weren’t the hospice’s only overseas visitors this month.
All the way from a hospital in Cambodia, biomedical scientist Chiek Sivhour and urologist Dr Han Oudam also took a tour of Derian House during their fact-finding visits to healthcare organisations in the UK.
They met Tallulah the Pet Therapy dog, enjoyed a walk around the gardens, spent time in the ball pool and met some of the children.
Catherine Randall, Chief Nurse at Derian House, said: “It was an honour to be able to show our colleagues from Spain and Cambodia the work we do here at Derian House. We hope they have taken some valuable learning from their visit.
“We think it is incredible that the team at Cudeca hospice hope to open Spain’s first children’s hospice in Malaga. It’s wonderful to see the spirit of compassion and care extending across borders, and we look forward to supporting their mission to provide comfort and care to children and their families.”
Derian House Children’s Hospice, based in Chorley, Lancashire, cares for more than 400 babies, children, young people and their families from across the North West, helping them to make the most of every moment.
Care is free to families at Derian House, but it will cost £6million to run the hospice this year. the charity relies on kind-hearted supporters to raise 70p in every £1.
