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All about the role of ... Care team member in a children's hospice

Children's hospices are charities. They rely on public generosity to help children and their families who are living with the kind of life-limiting or life-threatening conditions that mean they will not reach adulthood.

Hospices offer palliative, emergency and end-of-life care, and planned respites. Mothers, fathers, grandparents and siblings are all welcomed into their caring environments.

The organisation ACT and Children's Hospices UK campaigns for improved provision of children's palliative care services. It supplies professionals with a range of educational tools and resources to improve their knowledge and skills and helps them campaign for better provision.

Care Team Members (CTMs) work with children aged from a few days up to their early twenties. As part of a small multidisciplinary team, they are responsible for a number of families from the point of referral to the hospice, often phoning them to arrange their first visits. They work a 40-hour week mixing early shifts and late shifts that extend into the night. A 9am to 5pm shift gives opportunities to catch up with families on the phone, make home visits or visit the child's school.

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