Brian House children’s hospice on the Fylde coast in the North West of England provides palliative and end-of-life care for children and families with complex needs and life-limiting conditions. A recent research study, although ongoing, identified that some families were not accessing a service that was available to them in their local area. The team developed an action plan to build a community service enabling palliative and end-of-life care to be delivered in the community, therefore reaching out to the families identified in the study. COVID-19 implemented restrictions that impacted on the respite available to families due to reduced capacity; we had to react to this. COVID-19 empowered the team time to reassess the community service action plan ensuring a service was delivered in line with government guidelines and restrictions.

A proposal of a community service was presented to parents, their initial reaction was hesitance. Despite parents’ hesitation Brian House launched the community service. Our community team reacted to the pandemic successfully as more and more families came on board with this different way of accessing care provision. We networked and created links that are invaluable and crucial to developing a community service that would meet the needs of our children and families.

There have been many challenges along the way, however, our journey continues and we have many more miles to go. Early feedback from parents and families is positive and they are enjoying the diversity of our service.