Care in the East of England
At Addenbrooke’s Hospital we are developing a pioneering new pathway that will support children moving from paediatric care to adult services. Currently in its research phase, our Assistant Psychologist Caitlin Gray is focusing on understanding the barriers and facilitators to a successful move, and looking at what frameworks and tools can best support Young Adults.
We are incredibly excited about Caitlin’s work. We know the support is so needed by feedback from families who have talked about how losing the familiarity with their child health services teams, paired with the loss of familiar support, guidance and understanding with their medical team and Tom’s Trust psychologist can be daunting time.
Brainbow
The East is where it all started for Tom’s Trust and for more than a decade, clinical psychologists from Tom’s Trust provided crucial services in the East of England, working within a multi-disciplinary service at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge called Brainbow. Established in 2013, Brainbow introduced a groundbreaking approach to treating children with brain tumours by bringing together various healthcare services under one collaborative umbrella. Funding for Brainbow came from a partnership of three charitable organisations: Anna’s Hope, Tom’s Trust, and Camille’s Appeal. Joshua Tarrant Trust later replaced Camille’s Appeal.
In April 2023 our psychology provision was officially recognised as an essential service at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. The NHS made the incredible decision to take over the funding of our Cambridge psychologists. This achievement is a source of immense pride for Tom’s Trust, having provided mental health support to over 500 children across the East of England during the past ten years, as well as 1,500 family members.