About this episode
Today we continue the theme around support for children and families.My guest is Rachel Crook, who is a mummy to 2 young girls AND a paediatric nurse. I met Rachel when she spoke at a recent Whose Shoes event in the Midlands, focusing on early years’ care. I was thrilled she agreed to talk to me on the podcast and give us an insight into her ‘both sides of the fence’ experiences.The combination of having both lived and learnt experience can sometimes be the most powerful of all … Lemon lightbulbs ???Being a parent, worried about your child(ren) and trying to get answers, is HARDIt takes a LONG time to diagnose some chronic conditions; a holistic approach is essentialPatients and family carers do NOT make this stuff up – BELIEVE them!Look at the WHOLE child. And then the child within the family, including mental health needsWe NEED to join the dots. Will the new Integrated Care Boards deliver?Appointment delays have a huge effectBIG responsibility to get the most out of those brief healthcare appointmentsLoads of impacts when only one parent allowed to attend a healthcare appointment HCPs: how it feels to move to ‘the other side of the fence’Why does it feel like a fence, a battleground - let's work together!In Whose Shoes, we try to explore solutions that work for both ‘sides’.Listen! Never have preconceived ideas about the outcome Reach out! If you don’t know there is a problem, you can’t fix itHow about recording difficult conversations?The last appointment of the day - can be detrimentalShould parents be allowed to communicate with individual NHS HCPs?It is hard for children with food allergies, excluding favourite foods. Dippy eggs!Difficult balancing act between playing down concerns for the child, but having an open conversation with the HCPPlay therapists enable parents to speak openly and get the most out of consultationsFind imaginative workarounds to give children with nutritional needs the same educational and social experience as their peersSchool! Give plenty of notice! Parents can’t rustle up a gluten-free, soya free, dairy free gingerbread man at no noticeChronic conditions are expensive AND you need to be good at maths and science!It helps to know what to expect. How long will it take? What is involved? Preparing a child is so important!Involve parents in writing letters - the right info and … language matters!Different perspectives: something that is an admin issue to you might be HUGE to meAcknowledge parents as experts, and the amount of care they are deliveringCommissioning systems are affecting the quality of care that can be providedPositive changes do not have to be huge. They have to be doableThere is an amazing global network
