There are Rainbows nurses employed to work in the hospitals in the East Midlands. We have two Clinical Nurse Specialists in Palliative Care in Leicester and two in Nottingham one in each of the children’s hospitals and one covering the neonatal units in the respective cities. There are further plans to expand into the hospitals in Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire.

Supported by our team in the hospice, Rainbows Nurses in hospitals provide specialist holistic care to life-limited or life-threatened children and their family while they are in hospital. The Nurses are part of the wider Rainbows team ensuring that wherever the child is, they can access expert palliative care.

The knowledge and experience our Rainbows Nurses bring will not only help the families of children who have life-threatening and life-limiting conditions, but will also be a support to our NHS colleagues.

By putting Rainbows Nurses into local hospitals, we can play a key role in identifying those children and families who may benefit from Rainbows support and make families aware of their options; care at Rainbows, in hospital or at home.

Since launching in early 2020, the programme has seen around 30% more neonates, children and young people referred to us, meaning more families will benefit from our care and support. This has meant that since May 2020, we have been able to provide more symptom management, end of life care and bereavement support.

Since launching in early 2020, the programme has seen around 30% more neonates, children and young people referred to us, meaning more families will benefit from our care and support.