Terminally ill children should have access to 24-hour homecare, a new draft standard has said.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said 24-hour access to specialist medical support and advice would help more children to spend their final days at home.
Research found that 80% of families would prefer to spend their final days together at home when the child is thought to be in their last month of life.
Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive at NICE, said: ‘A hospital is not always the best place for a dying child. Sometimes being cared for at home, in familiar surroundings with the people they love beside them can be much more beneficial.
‘We need to make sure families have the support they need. Children should be able to access the right care in the right place for them.
‘The final moments we spend we loved ones can form some of the strongest memories. We have to get it right.’