Over a hundred delegates joined the event in Cambridge to learn more about the new hospital’s visionary approach for holistic care, with high profile guests including the Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza and broadcaster Dr Xand van Tulleken.
The Cambridge Children’s Hospital conference - A Whole New Way: Shaping the future of children’s healthcare - brought together delegates spanning the world of politics, healthcare, design and construction, charity, and philanthropy. Held at Murray Edwards College (opens in a new tab) in Cambridge, the event was sponsored by Cambridge Children’s Hospital construction partner Bouygues UK (opens in a new tab), who were appointed last summer.
Cambridge Children’s Hospital will be the first specialist children’s hospital for the East of England. It will redefine care for children and young people, uniting mental and physical healthcare with world-leading life sciences research in a whole new way, treating mind and body as one.
The Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza gave the keynote speech, following the launch of her recent report 'Children waiting in hospital (opens in a new tab)'. She used the conference platform to draw attention to the gaps in children's health data and the delays and challenges medically fit children face in being discharged because services are not ready to support them at home or in the community.
Dedicated children's hospitals like this one are crucial. I am thrilled to see and hear about the work being undertaken here in Cambridge, such as the end to-end pathway for children with acquired brain injuries. In my work, I hear about how children’s hospitals - and their staff - are utterly transforming lives outside of clinical practice and operating theatres. Proper planning of support for these children, and joint working, ensures some of the most vulnerable children are smoothly discharged from hospital into the community and well supported no matter where they live.
Dame Rachel de Souza, Children's Commissioner for England
Following the conference, Dame Rachel said: “I’m very pleased to hear that Cambridge Children’s hospital is already addressing the need for embedded links with social care, as well as exploring how to keep children in their communities and tackle unequal access to services.”
Dame Mary Archer, Co-chair of Cambridge Children’s Hospital Campaign Board, compered the conference and gave the welcome address, describing the project as “close to my heart.” She said she had championed the need for a children’s hospital on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus since the late 1990s, but it now has a clear timetable and real momentum behind it.
This conference brought together the ideas, the experience and the passion of very many people who are making Cambridge Children’s Hospital a reality. It was inspiring to hear about pioneering research, integrated services, and coproduction with young people and families, all of which are cornerstones of the hospital development and vision. It was especially exciting to hear about the powerful role this specialist hospital will play locally, nationally, and internationally.
Dame Mary Archer, Co-chair, Cambridge Children's Hospital Campaign Board
Other speakers included:
- Professor Sam Behjati, Director of Cambridge Children’s Research Institute, on how child health research must integrate services that wrap around the child.
- Cambridge Children’s Hospital Clinical Leads Dr Rob Heuschkel and Professor Isobel Heymen focused on the urgent need for the East of England’s first specialist children’s hospital, while Dr Suzanna Watson, who leads Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundations Trust's Psychological Medicine Team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, talked about how integrated care works in practice.
- Dr Anna Moore from the University of Cambridge presented her work on CADRE, the Child and Adolescent Data Resource, a ground-breaking initiative designed to close the evidence and infrastructure gap in children’s health.
- Dr Aditi Vedi, Consultant Academic Paediatric Oncologist at Cambridge University Hospitals, shared the advances in rapid whole genome sequencing for childhood cancer, bringing hope to families and avoiding lengthy and invasive treatment. Dr Vedi is part of the team at Cambridge Children’s award-winning Innovation Hub,
Members of Cambridge Children’s Young Adult Forum – Yasmin and James – and two Parent Advocates – Kate and Sarah – joined Dr Xand for a panel discussion about how their voices are shaping the new hospital, how it looks, feels and cares.
I think Cambridge Children’s Hospital is the most innovative children’s health project in the world. Bringing physical health, mental health and research together is colossally important but at the heart of it, the patients’ lived experience is genuinely shaping everything from the physical structures to the design of the care pathway. It is going to be revolutionary.
Dr Xand van Tulleken, Broadcaster and Health Campaigner
Interactive breakout sessions gave delegates the opportunity to discuss key themes of hospital care.
- Pilgrim Pathways School (opens in a new tab), education provider at Cambridge Children’s partner organisations CPFT and CUH, explored how education and rapid re-integration supports children and young people’s treatment and recovery.
- Dr Xand and the project’s food workstream facilitated a lively and creative ‘Food with Care’ session, exploring the opportunities the new hospital brings.
- Cambridge Children’s Hospital Signature Artist Amalia Pica facilitated a discussion about how art will help create a ‘care-full’ hospital.
- Construction partner, Bouygues UK, explored how to bridge the gap between signed-off plans and creating spaces that truly work for staff and patients.
It was a real pleasure for Bouygues UK to support Cambridge Children’s Hospital’s conference and be part of this pivotal moment for the project. Bringing together so many dedicated partners is essential to making this innovative vision for the East of England a reality. It was inspiring to see so much energy and practical ideas shared during our breakout session on bridging the gap between plans and spaces that truly work for staff and patients. As we move forward, we look forward to working hand-in-hand with all partners in the lead-up to construction, always with our commitment to building for life at the heart of everything we do.
Philippe Bernard, Chair and CEO, Bouygues UK
Located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge Children’s Hospital will be a world first in fully integrating mental and physical healthcare under one roof, with a world-leading research institute embedded in the heart of the building. It will bring specialist care closer to home giving children and families across the East of England better, more equitable access to the care they need with less time away from school, home and community.
The Full Business Case will be submitted to government later this year, with construction expected to start in 2027 and last for three years.
Despite being a hospital that does not yet physically exist, this conference showed Cambridge Children’s Hospital staking its claim as a leader in shaping the future of children’s healthcare. We brought together expert speakers from across our partner organisations, our patient and carer groups, our wider region, and indeed our whole country, to share in our combined focus on improving health outcomes for children and their families through research and practice. As we move towards the submission of our Full Business Case later this year, I am assured of the enormous support for this game-changing specialist hospital and its research institute, and the huge benefits it will bring.
Malcolm McFrederick, Project Director, Cambridge Children's Hospital
Cambridge Children's Hospital is a partnership between Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, and the University of Cambridge.
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