Referrals to a children's hospice service can be made by family members or any professional involved in the care of the child or young person. This is done on the understanding that the family have been consulted prior to the referral being made.

Each children's hospice will have their individual referral criteria, but referrals are considered for children and young people living within the catchment area of the service who have life-limiting or life-threatening conditions and/or complex health care needs which require palliative care.

Referrals can be made from the point of diagnosis and the support provided is tailored and adapted to meet the needs of the individual child and family over time.

All referrals are carefully considered. With parental permission, the children's hospice will first seek information about the child from a variety of sources including hospital consultants, social workers, GPs or community nurses. This information is reviewed by an admissions panel and a decision is made on whether the family will be accepted.  It may be necessary to review the decision annually depending on the diagnosis.

Emergency referrals for palliative or end-of-life care can be made at any time. Children's hospice services will do everything they can to respond quickly in these instances, in some cases organising an admission within a few hours.

For further information about making a referral to an individual service, please refer to our interactive map to find your local children's hospice.