Tomorrow (11 September 2019) we announce that Petals will temporarily be suspending our operations in Addenbrookes and the Rosie Hospitals as local NHS funding bodies are unable to meet the cost of the service.
In the last year alone, Petals saw 320 clients in Cambridge with an average of 97 sessions per month for women and couples provided by 5 counsellors. Parents who received this support had experienced a range of tragic circumstances including miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal loss. With local demand for this service on the increase, the charity had requested funding from the local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) so that it could ensure a sustainable presence in the hospital. However, senior decision makers at the hospital Trust and CCG have rejected the charity’s appeal to provide the remaining funds needed.
Chief Executive and Petals’ Founder, Karen Burgess said, “Parents who experience the death of a baby have unique psychological requirements, due to the nature of the grief and trauma they suffer. These needs cannot be met by traditional perinatal mental health teams, which is why maternity units such as Ipswich Hospital’s are currently using some of their budget to outsource this service to Petals.
We are disappointed that NHS leaders in Cambridge will not be taking responsibility for funding this vital service at this time, particularly as their colleagues in Suffolk and North Essex have made that commitment. We want to reassure bereaved parents that we are doing everything we can to gain a sustainable funding source for the service so we can get up and running again as soon as possible”.
Petals will continue to take emergency referrals via health professionals in the Cambridge area whilst our ongoing funding is addressed. Parents referred to us prior to 11 September 2019 will be unaffected by this announcement.
If you have any personal questions or concerns about this announcement, please contact us via counselling@petalscharity.org
Update: Please show your support for reinstating the Petals service in Cambridge by clicking HERE. Thank you.
Have just seen this on the news! How can we help? I have just published a new children’s book and will be doing a book signing on 28th September at the Book Warren, near Willingham. I would love to hand out leaflets and take any donations during the afternoon. My own daughter had 5 miscarriages, but now has 16 year old twins (long story), but I would like to help in some way. I am a trained volunteer registered with Care Network…
Hi Janine
Thank you for this offer of support, it would be great to have you hand out leaflets. If you can email me at the address below I will arrange to have leaflets sent out int he post.
With warm regards
Narissa
narissa@petalscharity.org
Hi All,
I was very saddened to read of this and I am a member of ‘Team Arm’, a fund raising group at Arm Cambridge.
I have forwarded the link for this news to the rest of the team and asked if we can nominate this charity for a future charity fund raiser to try and help in some way
Kind regards
Jill
(Laughlin)
Hi Jill
Thank you for your message. We have been truly humbled by the response we have had from all our supporters.
It would be amazing to have support from ‘Team Arm’ so please feel free to email me at narissa@petalscharity.org