News

A project to promote children’s oral health care through play has been expanded by the charity Action for Sick Children. The North West has particularly bad statistics with regard to dental care. Many children go through the unnecessary pain of having decayed milk teeth extracted. The Dental Play Box scheme supports the Early Years Foundation Stage and involves a visit from a play facilitator. It is a free service currently available to schools, clubs, nurseries and other pre-school settings in the Greater Manchester area. The main aim of the visit is to explore through play the importance of looking after your teeth and visiting the dentist. A box of resources, which include role play uniforms, hand puppets, games, stories, toothbrushes and a Teachers Pack is left for a week after the session for the children to play with.

To arrange a visit contact the Dental Playbox team at dpbox@actionforsickchildren.org

or phone 01663 763004.

Invitation to attend Action for Sick Children's Annual General Meeting

To be held at University Womens Club, 2 Audley Square, South Audley Street,

London, W1Y 6DB. Tel: 0207 499 2268 on Saturday 5th September 2010 from

2pm-3.30pm.

All motions/resolutions to be with the Board of Trustees by 14th August 2010.

Motions/Resolutions to be put forward by a Branch and signed by two national members.

! Publications Summer Sale !

Many items reduced to half price or more. Sale offers end in August. 

Please click on the Publications tab on the left hand side of this window.

The third Norah Rees award will be presented on 22nd September at the 'Bringing Care Closer to Home' Conference in Manchester.

For almost 50 years Action for Sick Children has championed the cause of sick children, involving children, young people and their families in the planning and provision of their healthcare. Action for Sick Children wishes to celebrate the charity's part in helping to achieve high standards of service for children and to promote research and development in this field. Action for Sick Children has received a small legacy from the estate of the late Norah Rees. In order to acknowledge this gift, the charity has decided to create the Action for Sick Children Norah Rees Award for the best Master's Dissertation from a nurse that furthers Action for Sick Children's aims and values.

What is the Norah Rees Award?
Action for Sick Children is offering a prize of £500 for the best Master's dissertation by a nurse.

Who is eligible?

All nurses who completed a dissertation as part of a Master's degree between June 2007 and 2009 can apply for the Norah Rees Award.

How Can the Award Help?

The recipient for the Norah Rees Award will gain publicity for their work including the opportunity to have their abstract included in the conference material and on the Action for Sick Children website. The degree in which the Award winning dissertation is completed will also benefit from the prestige and publicity. Award winners will be able to include the Award on their C.V's as national recognition of their work.

How Will the Winner Be Selected?

The Norah Rees Award will be presented to the best postgraduate dissertation that contributes to the Action for Sick Children Millennium Charter, incorporated into the European Association for Children in Hospital Charter.

2010 Norah Rees Entry Form  3Mb

The Medical Director of Alder Hey Children's Hospital on the BBC Panorama programme of Tuesday 13th April 2010 raised issues of the unnecessary admission of children to hospital. Causing unnecessary stress to children and families and for precious hospital time to be wasted through the effects of poor dental health and passive smoking.

Action for Sick Children through the Dental Playbox aims to help educate communities regarding the importance of dental care and supports the Royal College of Physicians with their concerns on passive smoking and children.

'The NHS is adding to the suffering of parents with a child in hospital by not giving them somewhere to sleep, the UK's top children's doctor has warned'. Action for Sick Children continue with their almost 50 year campaign to allow parents to stay with their children in hospital.  

Action for Sick Children welcomes the new report launched today from the Royal College of Physicians on Passive Smoking - A Major Health Hazard to Children. Please read more.

Dr Deepak Kalra, Vice Chairman of Action for Sick Children has written a summary of the Royal College of Physicians report. Passive Smoking and Children  132Kb

The DVD looks at the impact of the Robertson Films which were instrumental in the government setting up the Platt Committee. Mothercare for Children in Hospital through to National Association for the Welfare of Children in Hospital (NAWCH) helped healthcare professionals and parents implement the Platt reccommendations. The DVD also focuses on what Action for Sick Children has helped achieve within children's healthcare services since the time of the Platt Report to where these services are now and what needs to continue.

It costs £10.95 including p&p.

Action for Sick Children's Celebrations of Platt were honoured by a reception given by the City of Manchester at the Manchester Town Hall on the evening of Wednedsay 18th November 2009.

The Lord Mayor of Manchester Alison Firth welcomes Action for Sick Children.

Action for Sick Children Chairman Pamela Barnes and Lord Mayor of Manchester.

The conference was held at the Chancellor's Hotel and Conference Centre, University of Manchester on Thursday 19th November, 2009.

Dr Stella Butler, Deputy University Librarian and Associate Director, The John Rylands University Library, Manchester speaking about 'Harry Platt - the man.'

Sir Harry Platt's two daughters Lady Margaret Williams and Diana Jennings were made Honorary Members of Action for Sick Children.

From left to right: Diana Jennings, Professor Ann Keen MP Parliamentary Undersecretary for Health and Pamela Barnes.

Dr Peg Belson and Ms Joan Woodward were also made Honorary Members of Action for Sick Children.

Pamela Barnes and Dr Peg Belson.

A very dynamic question and answer session concluded the day.

From left to right: Dr Helena Gleeson, Professor Peter Clayton and Professor Terence Stephenson were part of the Question and Anwere Panel.

Scenes from the conference day

On left: Dr Sheila Shribman and Dame Elizabeth Fradd.

History of Action for Sick Children Display

Transport for Sick Children Team and Display

 Dr Deepak Kalra -Vice Chair of Action for Sick Children

The second Action for Sick Children Norah Rees Award was presented by Professor Ann Keen MP, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Health, to winner Trudy Ward for her Master’s dissertation ‘Living with Cerebral Palsy: The health information needs of young people with Cerebral Palsy. An Exploration of their perspectives.’

Polly Livermore was this year’s Runner-Up.

The Norah Rees Trophy and prizes were presented at the charity’s ‘Celebration of Platt 1959-2009’ Conference in Manchester in November. The annual award is made for the best postgraduate dissertation from a nurse that contributes to the Action for Sick Children Millennium Charter.

Action for Sick Children are proud to have launched their new Planning Tool 'Involving Children and Young People in Healthcare' at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health on Tuesday 6th October, 2009.

The National Service Framework for Children,Young People and Maternity Services changed the focus of the way health and social care is delivered for children and young people but also the way in which we must involve them in the decision-making process. This was strongly supported by Every Child Matters(2003) which sets out the proposition that everyone working with children and young people should have a common set of of skills and knowledge. One of these common core skills is that we should have effective communication and engagement with children and young people.

This planning tool aims to support people working with children and young people, in the healthcare sector, whether acute or primary care, to help you in the process of engaging with children and young people.

Involving Children and Young People in Healthcare Interactive Planning Tool  2Mb

The Annual General Meeting of Action for Sick Children will be held on Saturday 26th September 2009 from 2pm - 3.30pm at the University Womens Club, 2 Audley Square, South Audley St, London, W1Y 6DB. Tel: 0207 499 2268.
All members and friends welcome.

On April 1st, the government is introducing a new process for dealing with patients' complaints about NHS healthcare.

Following public feedback, they are streamlining it from a three stage to a two-stage process, to make it quicker and easier for a complainant to have their concern dealt with.

The Healthcare Commission will no longer be involved in dealing with patients' complaints about the NHS as they ceased to exist on 31st March 2009. The Health Service Ombudsman will take over. Tel: 0845 015 4033. http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/

A “Celebration of Platt – 1959-2009”

In the early 1950s, the Ministry of Health recognised that changes were needed in regard to children’s welfare in hospital. A committee was set up and chaired by Sir Harry Platt and the report, The Welfare of Children in Hospital, was published in 1959. It is now 50 years since the “Platt Report” as it has become known was first published.

Although the Platt Report was adopted as official policy by the Ministry they were unable to enforce these recommendations. But there was little change. It was then that Action for Sick Children came into being; known at first as Mother Care for Children in Hospital.

The newly formed organisation aimed to persuade hospitals that the new ideas could work and that parents had a vital role in the care of their sick child. Professionals and parents joined together and the movement grew with many individual groups setting up throughout the country, including Scotland and Wales. In 1963 all those interested joined together to become a much more formal voice and 1965 saw these co-ordinated groups become The National Association for the Welfare of Children in Hospital. By 1991, an increasing amount of care for sick children was taking place in the community, so the name was changed to Action for Sick Children.

During nearly fifty years of existence, Action for Sick Children has been outstandingly successful in promoting high standards of care in health services for sick children and young people. As an independent and voluntarily funded organisation, Action for Sick Children has helped to see major changes in the recognition of the importance of the emotional, social and psychological needs of sick children. The charity has always aimed to work alongside government, the Royal Colleges, other professionals and parents, to achieve these aims.

It is fitting that Action for Sick Children should promote the “Celebration of Platt” – the lynch pin from which all good practice emanates, including the most recent National Service Framework in 2003.

So please help Action for Sick Children celebrate the “Platt Report”:

As Manchester is the city in which Sir Harry Platt lived and worked, the year will culminate in a Lord Mayor's Reception on the evening of 18th November 2009 and conference on 19 November 2009 in Manchester at The University of Manchester's Chancellor Hotel and Conference Centre. We already have the support of several eminent figures, including Dr Sheila Shribman, National Clinical Director for Children, Young People and Maternity Services, Professor Terence Stephenson, President Elect of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, and Dame Elizabeth Fradd.

The charity would welcome any information, photos etc or any other support that could help this “Celebration of Platt”.

The second Norah Rees Award will be presented on 19 November 2009 at the Action for Sick Children conference to be held at The University of Manchester's Chancellors Hotel and Confence Centre.

For over 40 years Action for Sick Children has championed the cause of sick children, involving children, young people and their families in the planning and provision of their healthcare. Action for Sick Children wishes to celebrate the charity's part in helping to achieve high standards of service for children and to promote research and development in this field. Action for Sick Children has received a small legacy from the estate of the late Norah Rees. In order to acknowledge this gift, the charity has decided to create the Action for Sick Children Norah Rees Award for the best Master's dissertation from a nurse that furthers Action for Sick Children's aims and values.

What is the Norah Rees Award?
Action for Sick Children is offering a prize of £500 for the best Master's dissertation by a nurse.

Who is eligible?
All nurses who completed a dissertation as part of a Master's degree between June 2007 and 2009 can apply for the Norah Rees Award.

How can the award help?
The recipient of the Norah Rees Award will gain publicity for their work including the opportunity to present their study at the Action for Sick Children Annual Conference. The degree in which the Award winning dissertation is completed will also benefit from the prestige and publicity. Award winners will be able to include the Award on their C.V.s as national recognition of their work.

How will the winner be selected?
The Norah Rees Award will be presented for the best postgraduate dissertation that contributes to the Action for Sick Children Millennium Charter, incorporated into the European Association for Children in Hospital Charter.

Download the leaflet:

Entry form - information on award

The Action for Sick Children Dental Play Box was launched on 14 November 2007 at the Hipper Holme Day Nursery, Halifax by Professor Tim Eden, President. It was a most successful event and congratulations to all concerned, including fund raisers from Corporate Direct Fund Raising and Lorraine who demonstrated the play box to the children. Our thanks to LHF in Leeds for raising the first full complement of funding for a dental play box.

1st Dental Playbox has been purchased by:

LHF Healthcare

Thank you - well done.

Action for Sick Children now requires 2 active volunteers / trustees who would represent the parent view point. After the induction the volunteers would attend meetings and visit healthcare settings on behalf of the charity. This could be in London or elsewhere in the country. Expenses are reinbursed - selection is by interview - trustees meetings are on Saturdays in London 5 times per year.

Would suit person with commitment to the cause of Sick Children. Enquiries in writing with CV to Head office:

Action for Sick Children
36 Jacksons Edge Road
Disley
Stockport
SK12 2JL

The Trustees are delighted to welcome back the Northern Ireland Branch of Action for Sick Children. We look forward to working with the Branch towards high quality service for children and young people when in ill-health.

News for the website would be welcomed from other branches and members.

Please forward to pamela.barnes@actionforsickchildren.org

Have you heard about Give As You Earn (GAYE)? Did you know it is an easy and tax-free way to regularly donate to a charity (or charities) of your choice?

If you are an employee in the UK then your employer can arrange to automatically deduct from your salary any amount you specify and send it to your chosen charity. THis donation is tax-free. This means for the charity to receive £10 it can cost you only £7.80 (or £6 depending on what rate you pay tax). So you can ask to give 'more' if you intended to donate £10 yourself!

Many people are generous towards charities. Without them charities could not continue their good work. Regular giving is an efficient way to donate, both for you and for your charity. You can cease donations whenever you choose.

WHy not convert your good intention into a good deed? At the same time you will be denying the government tax on the donated amount. Now that can't be bad!

If you are a UK tax payer, and work for an employer, please consider giving regularly by GAYE to Action for Sick Children. You can find out more about GAYE by following the link below.

Thank you for your support.

GAYE
http://www.allaboutgiving.org/giveasyouearn/uk/index.cfm