The Family Council was set up in 2000 and exists to represent the voices of parents, carers and families whose children are treated in the hospital or the community. Meetings are held every 2 months or so and hosted by NHS Lothian with partners from charities like Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity, Kindred and Ronald McDonald House involved, and a range of staff from across Children’s Services.
The Family Council has played an important role in representing parents’ views during the planning and building of the new Royal Hospital for Children & Young People in Edinburgh. It works with NHS Lothian on several projects and discussions to improve patient and family engagement.
How the Family Council works
Parent members usually join after having a child in the hospital or cared for by Children's Services and are keen to be part of ongoing improvements to families’ experiences. Sometimes families feel that they’d like to give back to the hospital or that their experience might benefit others. Parents and carers join the Family Council voluntarily, with no minimum commitment. Meetings are usually every 2 months, with occasional requests to read information and give feedback on projects or issues. If you have the time, energy and skills to help work with Children’s Services and improve patient and family care, we’d love to hear from you.
The Family Council also conducts ward visits to meet families with a child in the hospital to listen to their experiences, feeding back common and emerging themes to the hospital management at our regular meetings. We are supported by the Volunteer service and, over the years, have supported many events, such as the Annual Summer Fayre. Across our membership, we have always had parents who use the services on an on-going and long-term basis and are open to everyone.
Family Council Structure
The Family Council has adopted a ‘horizontal’ model, operating without Chair or Vice-Chair. There are plans to revisit the Council’s remit and encourage some new members to join. If you are interested in getting involved, we’d love to hear from you.
Our current Family Council members are:
- Tracy Rendall
- Nuala Gormley
- John Greenhill
- Thea J McMillan
- Sophie Pilgrim
- Abhishek Behl
Get in touch
If you have a question, some feedback that you’d like the Family Council to raise, or are interested in joining, please get in touch by e-mail at rhscfc@groups.outlook.com.
What our current Family Council members have to say
Nuala Gormley says
:I joined the Family Council when my third son was an infant and required surgery. In the years since then, our family has frequented a range of services, clinics and wards. We're able to draw on that experience as the Family Council engages with the hospital management team as they plan reforms and redesign services and I find that visiting families on the wards always brings new insight and reflections to our Family Council discussions. Family Council needs a broad range of parents with ideas on how to improve services to join us. So if you've had a hospital experience and found yourself thinking 'I wish they knew that', do get in touch!
John Greenhill says:
From his early days Jack has been a regular user of the hospital. He has had various spells in hospital covering everything from A&E visits at all hours to overnight stays, from out-patient appointments to a 6-month stay. During the latter we did experience the odd bump and wobble so I decided that rather than join the silent majority I would join the Family Council as I had seen one of their posters and I thought it would be the best way to share our experiences. Upon joining I became part of a dedicated group of individuals who, at heart, wanted to ensure that families have the best possible experience while attending hospital and also to promote and protect the interest of the family. A key part of any child's recovery is the part played by the family and as such we do all we can to ensure that your normal family life can be maintained. This new hospital is far bigger and far more challenging in some ways than the old much-loved Sick Kids hospital. As such we need fresh new members with fresh new eyes and ideas to join the current members. We hope you will consider joining us. Thank You.
Thea J McMillan says:
I joined the Family Council when our (now 16 year old) daughter was a baby, and had a 5 month stay at Sick Kids. It was first suggested to me by one of her consultants, when he discovered that I am an architectural designer. We know and understand the importance of people’s environments, and this is more than ever when families have to be in hospital. I was more than happy to volunteer my expertise and understanding of this for the process of the reprovision of RHSC, and attended many meetings representing families and their needs. I was also asked to be the co-chair of the Children and Young People Consultation and Engagement subgroup, and did this gladly. My motivation has always been to use my time to make things better for families who find themselves in hospital, by bringing an understanding of this experience to the table.
Abhishek Behl says:
Anya is our only child and as a father-to-be I was so looking forward to fatherhood. Sadly, from a very early stage of Anya's life (5 days old) we became regular visitors to Edinburgh's sick kids hospital. This carried on with frequent hospital admissions, ambulance calls, A&E visits and regular tests. At 6 months of age, Anya was finally diagnosed with an extremely rare neurological condition. It is 1 in a million, which means she is the only one with that condition on the east coast of Scotland and Edinburgh area. With this, our lives changed forever. As a new dad this was a very difficult time for me because I never envisaged a life of a new dad in this way and it was a depressing time. During one of our many visits to A&E, my wife noticed the information about Sick Kid's Family council on the notice board calling for interested parents to get in touch. My wife encouraged me to do this as a way to change a negative time into something positive and share my experiences. This is something I've always been driven to do when juggling my health with Multiple Sclerosis. By joining the family council, it has certainly made me feel I can give something back and that my experiences as a parent at sick kids might help other parents and their kids that have to go through so much. I was welcomed with open arms to the family council, really like an extended family who had also individually been through so much with her children. The committee made me feel my contributions were valued and we were collectively working towards a common goal trying to help make the experience easier for families who use Sick Kids Hospital. My message to all the new parents is that please don't feel you are alone. Do reach out and email the family council as I once did. One of the best things I have done is being a part of this family council and trying to advocate for not just my child, but all children and families who use Sick Kid's Hospital. I must confess that it is not always smooth sailing, but by representing families and children, many I may have never met, it makes me feel a great sign of achievement and motivation that I can give something back to our community and hopefully make a difficult time for other families a bit easier.
