Our care

Acorns provides care for babies, children and young people, who have life limiting or life threatening conditions. We offer a network of specialist palliative nursing care and support for local families.

Caring for a child with complex medical needs can place unimaginable demands on a family, both physically and emotionally. When time is short every moment is precious which is why, as well as providing specialist care, we help families to make lasting memories.

Quite simply, we’re here to support families on their journeys, in any way we can. Our package of care is tailored for each individual child to meet their medical, emotional, cultural, religious and spiritual needs.

In the past year, we have supported over 732 children and more than 940 families across the West Midlands, including those who have been bereaved.

We provide care from our three hospices, as well as in the family home and the community. Our hospices are open 24/7, 365 days a year, ensuring we’re here for children and families when they need us most.

• Acorns in Birmingham, based in Selly Oak, supports families from across Birmingham, North Warwickshire and Coventry
• Acorns in the Black Country, based in Walsall, supports families from Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire and Shropshire
• Acorns for the Three Counties, based in Worcester, supports families from Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and South Warwickshire

Each of our hospices are purpose built with 10 specially decorated bedrooms catering for children and young people from birth to 18 years of age. They are designed to be a homely environment to help children enjoy their stay and make the most of every day. See inside our hospices.

When a child is at Acorns Children’s Hospice, they are in safe hands. Our care is delivered by specialist in-house teams of registered children’s nurses, health care assistants, physiotherapists, family practitioners and volunteers. The hospices also have daily visits from local GPs and access to the expertise of Acorns own paediatric palliative care consultant.

Acorns nurses are all registered with the Nursing & Midwifery Council as either paediatric (children’s) nurses, general or adult nurses and learning disabilities nurses. They are the same trained nurses as you find in the NHS but may not be as easily recognisable as they don’t wear uniforms. They have a variety of experiences and come from a whole range of different backgrounds such as general hospitals, community, intensive care units or schools to name a few.