New research from the ECHPI project, co-funded by the Health Research Board, Laura Lynn Foundation and the Irish Hospice Foundation, has found that between 5,968-7,951 children in Ireland have a life-limiting condition. This is the first time that national data has been produced on the number of children requiring palliative care in Ireland and their hospital-use patterns. As such, it has timely implications for the development of the new national policy on palliative care for children and the revision of the national model of care for paediatrics.
The key findings of this research include:
· Children aged 0-19 with a life-limiting condition use up to 20% of bed days nationally and 38% of bed days in Children’s Health Ireland hospitals.
· Any staff working in acute settings are likely to encounter a child with a life-limiting condition and need further education and training in a palliative care approach to meet these children’s needs.
· Improved data systems and a unique health identifier in national hospital data are needed to better analyse patient-level data and identify trends such as the number of children with serious illness who may need to transition into adult healthcare over time.
Please click on the links below for further details on our outputs:
ECHPI Hospital Activity Infographic