Supporting families who have suffered the loss of a child or have a child living with medical complexities

Supporting families who have suffered the loss of a child or have a child living with medical complexities

Make a referral

If you would like to access our services or are a professional making a referral on someone’s behalf, we kindly ask that you complete the below referral form.

Please see details of our referral process below:

Step 1: Submit a initial referral using the form below.

Step 2:  We will arrange to call you to find out more about your circumstances and help answer any questions you may have.

Step 3: We will contact your General Practitioner to seek confirmation of meeting our criteria.

Step 4: If the criteria is met, we will then arrange for you to meet a family support worker either face to face or online to discuss how we might be able to support you and family. This forms the final stage of the assessment process.

Step 5: On occasion it may be necessary for us to present back our findings to the Board of Trustees for a final decision on
whether or not we are able to accept your family for our unique bespoke & support.

If the criteria for you to receive support from our charity is not met, you will be signposted to other services that may be more suitable for your needs.

Please be aware that use of language is very important to us; we have given much time and attention to adopting terminology which we feel best reflects our ethos and values. We understand that language is unique to each individual and recognise therefore that our terms may not feel like the right ‘fit’ for the family. Know that each individual/family receives a bespoke package of care which is tailor made to their needs and requirements.

We would always seek to adopt language which best reflects their own journeys wherever possible. We do not wish to cause any offence in the terminology we use and would ask individuals/families bring to our attention any particular terms which may be discomforting to them.

Our eligibility criteria

For families of complexly poorly children:   

We support parents, siblings and the complexly poorly child.

Our criteria for taking new referrals are that the child must be below the age of 18 and have been diagnosed with a life-threatening or shortening condition according to NICE Guidelines:

Group 1 
Life threatening conditions for which curative treatment may be feasible but can fail (E.g. cancer, irreversible organ failures of heart, liver, kidneys).

Group 2 
Conditions where premature death is inevitable (E.g. cystic fibrosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy).

Group 3 
Progressive conditions without curative treatment options (E.g. Batten disease, mucopolysaccharidoses).

Group 4 
Irreversible but non-progressive conditions causing severe disability leading to susceptibility to health (E.g. Severe cerebral palsy, multiple disabilities such as following brain or spinal cord injury).

Please note that Reuben’s Retreat is not a Children’s Hospice and as such we are not able to provide clinical care or respite breaks.

 

For families of child loss:

We support both parents and siblings of child loss. 

Our criteria for taking new referrals for families of child loss are as follows:

– The child was aged 21 years or under

– The timeline of loss was no longer than 5 years ago.

There is no restriction on the type of loss including stillbirth (* 24 completed weeks), SIDs, suicide, homicide, accidental death and illness.

We consider each case on an individual basis and will make an assessment.

For families of complexly poorly children:

We support parents, siblings and the complexly poorly child.

Our criteria for taking new referrals are that the child must be below the age of 18 and have been diagnosed with a life-threatening or shortening condition according to NICE Guidelines:

Group 1 
Life threatening conditions for which curative treatment may be feasible but can fail (E.g. cancer, irreversible organ failures of heart, liver, kidneys).

Group 2 
Conditions where premature death is inevitable (E.g. cystic fibrosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy).

Group 3 
Progressive conditions without curative treatment options (E.g. Batten disease, mucopolysaccharidoses).

Group 4 
Irreversible but non-progressive conditions causing severe disability leading to susceptibility to health (E.g. Severe cerebral palsy, multiple disabilities such as following brain or spinal cord injury).

Please note that Reuben’s Retreat is not a Children’s Hospice and as such we are not able to provide clinical care or respite. breaks.

 

For families of child loss:

 

We support both parents and siblings of child loss. 

Our criteria for taking new referrals for families of child loss are as follows:

– The child was aged 21 years or under

– The timeline of loss was no longer than 5 years ago.

There is no restriction on the type of loss including stillbirth (* 24 completed weeks), SIDs, suicide, homicide, accidental death and illness.

We consider each case on an individual basis and will make an assessment.