We have developed a hospital rooted in lived experience, through keeping the voices of children, young people, parents and carers at the heart of all we do.
Children, young people, parents and carers, from all over the East of England, have been involved in the Cambridge Children’s Hospital project. Their lived experience of hospital care for physical or mental health, as a patient, a parent or carer, or a sibling, has helped shape how the new facility will look, feel and care.
Cambridge Children's Network
Everyone who is involved in the project has joined Cambridge Children’s Network, which ensures they receive regular updates through our newsletters and are the first to hear of opportunities to get involved. We always welcome new members. Sign up > Parents and carers (opens in a new tab) or Young people age 14-25 (opens in a new tab)
We have a number of different approaches to engagement, ensuring a broad range of voices are heard.
Parent Advocates
Our six Parent Advocates are a group of parents who have been involved in the Cambridge Children's Hospital project for some time, representing families at a strategic level. They sit across all aspects of the project and at all strategic levels, holding us to account, challenging us, and making us think differently. Their input has helped inform decision making and put the voices of patients and families at the forefront of the project.
Youth and Young Adult Forums
Our award-winning youth and young adult forums launched in 2023 and have used their monthly meetings to deep dive into specific areas of the hospital development, including the design, the hospital school, and transition to adult services. Our young people have also spoken on national forums, including the Children’s Hospital Alliance and for the Government's ten-year plan. Many members of our forums have spoken at fundraising campaign events, sharing their stories to help us raise valuable funds for the new hospital. (We are not recruiting new members at this time.)
Parent Carer Voice
Our Parent Carer Voice is made up of parents and carers from across the region, all of whom have lived experience of caring for a child in hospital and/or mental health services. They have shared feedback to support the development of our Full Business Case, as well as taking part in workshops and focus groups to help us further develop our integrated model of care and plan how the hospital will work in reality. (We are not recruiting new members at this time.)
Engaging with younger children
It’s important that we hear from younger children about what they want from their new hospital. We have run a series of workshops about the hospital design, hospital school, and even hospital food. The ages have ranged from under 7-13. All feedback is logged and used to support the development of the hospital.
Targeted Regional Engagement
In line with the NHSCore20plus5 framework, we are working hard to ensure the voices of seldom-heard communities are represented in the development of Cambridge Children’s Hospital. To do this engagement, we work with trusted facilitators, such as local leaders or third sector organisations, who already know their communities well.
Working with external facilitators
Wherever possible, we take a creative approach to our engagement, working with external artist facilitators to run sessions that naturally draw out conversations. Read about some of the artists we have worked with External facilitators | Cambridge Children's