In future there will be a hospice for seriously ill children and young people in Bamberg. “Twelve stationary and four semi-stationary places have been created here. This project is of outstanding importance for Bamberg, Upper Franconia and the entire northern Bavarian region,” said Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) according to the announcement. Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) and he opened the facility on Friday. Young people up to the age of 26 who are suffering from a life-shortening illness should be accompanied and cared for there. The children’s and youth hospice “Star Tent” is located at the Hospice Academy Bamberg next to the Klinikum am Bruderwald.
“Hospice work is a symbol of peace and humanity. Here is the space and time to walk the last few meters at the end of life with dignity, and also to support parents and siblings,” said Söder.
“If a child has a life-shortening illness, it has a massive impact on the life of the whole family,” Holetschek continued. “In such a situation, the children and young people affected are of course often the focus. But it is just as important that the families receive the greatest possible support.” The Free State is investing around nine million euros in the Bamberg children’s and youth hospice.
Those affected can be accommodated with their families in the inpatient facility. The “Star Tent” is only the second children’s and youth hospice with stationary places in the Free State, said Willy Knödlseder, Chairman of the Board of the Bavarian Hospice and Palliative Care Association (BHPV). The first such facility in Bavaria, the St. Nikolaus children’s hospice in Bad Grönenbach (Unterallgäu district), has eight places for those affected. In addition, according to Knödlseder, there is a day hospice for children in Eichendorf in Lower Bavaria (District of Dingolfing-Landau) and an outpatient children’s hospice in Munich.
Around 2,500 people are affected in Bavaria every year, says the BHPV CEO. “The children’s hospices depend on donations, there is no full financing.” The various global crises made it increasingly difficult to raise funds for the hospices. “After all, qualified workers work there,” emphasized Knödlseder.
Nevertheless, he described the palliative care for children and young people in Bavaria as “relatively good”. Daycare facilities and outpatient hospices are also very important: “Then parents and siblings can take a breather and know that the child is well cared for.” In outpatient hospice work, an outpatient service comes home and looks after the children there.
Whether the focus is on medical or psychological support for the children in the hospices depends heavily on the individual case, said the chairman of the hospice association. “A three-year-old child needs different care than a 16-year-old teenager. It also depends very much on the type of illness and how far it has progressed.”
For the future, Knödlseder hopes that the topic of hospice and palliative care for children will be “brought even more to the population”https://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/.”Those affected should know that there are good counseling services and opportunities to be cared for on site.”