Children and Young People's Community Nursing Services
This service provides clinical nursing care and support for children and young people aged 0 to 18 years with health conditions.
What does this service provide?
Who we are
We are a community nursing service, supporting children and young people across West Sussex and Brighton and Hove.
What we do
We support children and young people aged 0 to 18 years (19 years old if the child has special educational needs or a disability) who have:
- acute, short-term conditions
- long-term conditions
- complex health needs and/or a disability
- life limiting and life-threatening conditions
Our skilled nurses provide care and support for a range of illnesses and conditions including:
- cancer (in Brighton and Hove this is provided by Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital)
- heart problems
- epilepsy
- oxygen dependency
- rheumatology (issues with joints, muscles and ligaments)
- multiple complex needs
- airway problems, including tracheostomy
- enteral feeding (the feeding of liquid through a tube direct to the stomach)
- post-transplant care
- wound care
- complex bladder and bowel management
- renal (kidney) and hepatic (liver) problems
- long term ventilation and oral, nasal or nasopharyngeal suction needs
- short term intravenous therapy
- treatments by regular injection
Appointment information
Who you'll see at your appointment
Our team is made up of specialist nurses, nursing associates and trained health care assistants who can offer support, care, and advice. We can plan visiting schedules in collaboration with you and your family, arranging mutually convenient appointments within a two-hour window.
We can also provide a named nurse for you and your family, with clear contact details if you need to get in touch.
What happens at my appointment?
Our specialist nursing support varies from patient to patient, and includes the following:
- providing your child with high quality nursing care at home
- enabling the safe and effective discharge of your child from hospital
- helping to prevent your child's admission or re-admission to hospital
- supporting your child's overall health and wellbeing
- enhancing the quality of life for your children and your whole family
- providing or helping you access specialist paediatric equipment that allows your child to be cared for at home
- providing advice to your child and your whole family to help you to manage their nursing care
What happens after my treatment plan ends?
Our team will continue to support your child until:
- the clinical nursing need has been resolved
- the young person has reached 18 years old (19 years old if the child has special educational needs or a disability) and transitioned to adult services
- the child or young person moves out of the area
Appointment types
We offer a variety of appointment options, including face to face, telephone and video appointments.
How can I access this service?
We receive referrals from registered healthcare professionals from paediatric services within hospital services, as well as GPs, specialist nursing teams and children’s therapy teams.
Please call the CCN team to confirm the referral has been received and the CCN team will contact the referrer to confirm acceptance.
Referral information and resources for professionals
As well as our main referral form, we have several accompanying referral forms for nasogastric (NG), intravenous (IV) and wound referral, which also need to be filled in where relevant.
All referral forms should be sent electronically. Referrers are welcome to contact us for any advice via telephone.
Where can I access this service?
Once we’ve received the referral for your child, our team will contact you and provide you with the relevant contact information for your locality team.
Childrens Community Nursing Service (West team) are proud to work in partnership with The Sussex Snowdrop Trust who provide nursing care and support for children with a life threatening/ life limiting illnesses.
Opening hours
Our service hours are from Monday to Friday, from 8:00am to 6:00pm, and weekends and bank holidays from 8:30am to 1:15pm.
For End of Life Care we are on 24-hour standby care, in partnership with Snowdrop at Home care and Chestnut Tree House.
Waiting times
For our service, we aim to see each child or young person with 24 hours to 2 weeks, depending on their individual needs.
Team locations
Friends and family test
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Get the best from your NHS
If you need advice about our services, facilities or staff, or would like to make a comment, please contact Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALS).
Contact details
You can contact PALS by the following:
Telephone: 01273 242 292Email: sc-tr.pals@nhs.net
Give feedback
Tell us what you think about our services, what we are good at, where we can improve, and what matters to you? All feedback will be shared anonymously wherever possible, but if you have any questions about this, please ask.
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