Price, Jayne

Aims and objectives: To report parent and professional perspectives of step-down care in assisting the transition from hospital to home, within one children's hospice in a constituent country of the United Kingdom.

Background: In recent years, increasing numbers of children-dependent on long term assisted ventilation have been noted. Meeting the complex physical, emotional and social needs of the child and family is challenging. Many of these children spend extended periods in hospital even when medically stable.

There is a possibility that front-line services, particularly out-of-hours services, are not accessible to some parents. The aim of this service evaluation was to gain a better understanding about visits to one emergency department (ED) in the south of England by children and their parents or carers. The specific focus was to elucidate the reasons behind frequent ED attendance and indicate a potential redesign of services.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 parents.