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The Whole Community

Cambridge Children’s Hospital will be the East of England’s first specialist children’s hospital. At the moment, many patients have to travel long distances to secure specialist treatment, often having to go to London or the Midlands. This hospital will serve the region as a whole.

We will work hand in hand with partners in the community, local hospitals and in retrieval services to care for children and young people closer to home. We will develop enhanced links with community services, social care and education.

A little boy with blond hair and a red t shirt holding the hands of his parents
After 14 months of travelling back and forth to Cambridge, Max now gets the care he needs closer to home, leaving more time to enjoy the things he loves

A specialist hospital for the region

We will call on the 17 acute neighbouring trusts and four community health trusts to help us achieve this, offering families support right on their doorsteps — from practical training for parents to sharing knowledge with schools.

We will spread the benefit of mind-body research and our pioneering treatment to patients right across the East of England.

Find out more about our partners here.

Telehealth technology

We’ll leverage the power of digital and telehealth technology to go beyond our hospital walls, to support healthcare professionals from a distance and provide care where it’s needed most. Drawing on the faces and places young people already know — their schools and colleges, the family GP, the local community — to offer safer, smarter care closer to them.

Video consultations and virtual monitoring are being seamlessly integrated into treatment plans. Observational visits, previously requiring children to travel into a hospital, can be done remotely.

A boy with blond hair playing lego A boy kneeling by some lego helicopters
A boy with blond hair playing lego A boy kneeling by some lego helicopters

Virtual reality can transform environments into familiar spaces, to put children at ease. Initiatives — like Senua’s Sacrifice, a video game which authentically portrays mental health conditions — can help young people feel seen and heard.

Find out more about technology we will use in the new hospital by visiting the Technology page in the Research section..

We’ll ensure that children are heard, everywhere.

Read Max's story here.