New help for children with cancer - AIBU

[Hardhaton12]

It was announced that the government will be paying for transport costs for children with cancer .
I know many people won’t understand and I’m aware I could get som backlash about this but
I am glad the assistance will be given but frustrated that again children across the country with other illnesses are forgotten - the same financial burdens, the same worry and children along side their families going through just as much as a difficult time.
should this not be extended to all children living with life threatening or terminal illnesses that require specialist hospital care ?

I am not saying to take it away or they don’t deserve it but Surely it has to be all families of children with life threatening illnesses - it can’t just be one ?

Could you link to it? I'm interested to see what type of costs it includes and which conditions.

I will find the link now - transport money for hospital visits and children undergoing cancer treatment only. 2 minutes

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-cover-travel-costs-of-children-with-cancer

It should be for everyone regardless of age or what they're being treated for

Fully agree. I am all for the support being offered to families of children with cancer.

But in an ideal world no family would face financial hardship getting to vital hospital appointments. I dread to think how much I have spent on petrol over the years for DS hospital stays, treatments and appointments. Thankfully with some family help along the way we have managed but I can see how it would lead to some impossible choices for some families.

It should be available for all children undergoing hospital treatment. I wonder though if it's something a group of parents of children with cancer / a group of cancer charities have come together and fought for, and that's why it's only been granted for children with cancer?

It's hard because there's no specific charity that I'm aware of in general for parents of all sick children, so no power to push for change in the way that there are various groups and charities for childhood cancer. It relies on smaller groups pushing for these changes to be available to them too, but it's much harder.

I get where you're coming from. We've regularly had to travel from just on the English side of the border with Scotland to London for DC's treatment, often at short notice and I cannot imagine how people manage financially if they're not in a good place.

Might speak to the charity connected with DC's condition to see if they have the numbers to push for a campaign, like the children's cancer charities have (and bloody well done to them!) for wider help for people.

https://www.younglivesvscancer.org.uk/uk-news/travel-fund-announcement-press-release/

Young Lives vs Cancer have been campaigning for 10 years for this.

Absolutely agree that funds should also be available for all children requiring lengthy/frequent hospital care.

Yes, agreed from the info helpfully posted above it looks like this is part of a package focused on young cancer patients as a result of a lot of lobbying by Clic sargent.
I do imagine that once this is up and running other charities will be campaigning hard for similar funds for other serious illnesses. On the whole it's a really good thing.

So a millionaire with a child with non life threatening eczema gets free transport for a hospital appointment? Ditto every child for every appointment?!

Where do you think thst money is coming from and which budget should it be take out of? Education?

Of course not. But as an adult with multiple medical appointments at different hospitals, it does get expensive quickly

It could easily be for every child above a certain number of hospital
appointments per year, though, irrespective of the cause.

The issue is there is a lot lf very sick children in the country who have no such charities because they don’t exist unfortunately as they have no backing. :(

Do you mean life-threatening illnesses without any charities that fund research, awareness, campaign etc for that condition? Could you give some examples? If they are quite niche I wonder if existing orgs would cover them?