Children and Young People's Community Palliative Care Team
The Children and Young People’s Community Palliative Care Team (CYPCPCT) is a multi-disciplinary team comprised of Psychologists, Palliative Care Nurse Specialists, Community Nurses, Health Care Assistants (HCAs), Paediatricians and Administrators.
Palliative care in children and young people refers to children/young people (CYP) who have a life-limiting or life-threatening condition, whereby curative treatment is no longer an option. The condition of the CYP may extend over many years.
The map below outlines the catchment area the CYPCPCT covers. They have two bases, one at East Reach House in Taunton and another at Yeovil District Hospital.
What care do we provide?
The Children and Young People’s Community Palliative Care Team (CYPCPCT) provides a specialist community-based palliative care service for children and young people (CYP) between the ages of 0 to 18. The team continues to support children or young people until their 19th birthday, to support with the transition to adult services.
The care given will be guided by the wishes of the individual child or young person and their family, whether in the children’s hospice, acute setting or in the community.
The CYPCPCT aims to meet the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of each individual child or young person, focusing on enhancing the quality of life for the CYP, and support for the family.
Psychology services
The CYPCPCT can provide psychology input for CYP and their families. Psychological and emotional support is recognised as an important aspect of the holistic care the team aim to offer.
The psychology team can help families and CYP with the following:
adjustment to a diagnosis and treatment of the health condition, and support to cope with the daily demands of this
parenting advice and support in the context of also managing the health condition
support to explore and cope with difficult thoughts and feeling, which have appeared because of the health condition, such as depression, fear or anxiety, anger, panic reactions and phobias
support to manage the psychological impact of traumatic experiences
help to manage any difficulties in relationships or communication that have arisen because of the health condition
support for parents and young people about how best to talk to each other and other people about the health condition
help to manage stress-related difficulties
help to make difficult decisions related to the health conditions and in coping with significant life changes
help to think about ways to best manage the future, including end of life care and decisions
provide bereavement provision where appropriate (up to 18 months post death of the CYP).
How to access our service?
A referral can only be made to the Children and Young People’s Community Palliative Care Team (CYPCPCT) by a Paediatrician or other Health Care Professional.
To access the service the child or young person must be:
registered with a GP within Somerset
aged between 0 to 18 years old
have a life-limiting or life-threating condition
made aware that they are being referred to the CYPCPCT and what the service’s role is.
