BIRMINGHAM Children’s Hospital is to become a training hospital in paediatric palliative medicine thanks to funding by a children’s charity and a Redditch business.
The £310,000 funding will double the number of existing roles in the region.
The donation by Oakland International and Molly Ollys will cover two years of training for the consultants.
There are currently only 25 paediatric palliative speciailists in the UK and nationally there is a shortage of between 50 to 60 consultants within this specialism.
Oakland International co-founder and group CEO, Dean Attwell, said: “Molly Ollys is a truly wonderful charity supporting so many children and their families through such difficult times.
“The link to Birmingham Children’s Hospital is another example of an under-resourced but much-needed service identified and championed by Molly Ollys and we are delighted to be part of the funding support team.”
Birmingham Children’s Hospital consultant, Yifan Liang said: “With the current consultant numbers, we are only capturing the most needy children and there’s a lot more need that we could be addressing.
“This vital business funding will enable us to provide the capacity to serve families better through planning, clinical reviews and which will be more sustainable for everyone concerned.
“Thanks to Molly Ollys, Oakland International, and other corporate businesses supporting this much needed initiative, we are starting to see change and helping families in the way they want and need for the short and long term, and getting the end results for individuals as we roll it out and help more people.”
