Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity

The charity works with the National Health Service to provide specialist nurses known as 'Roald Dahl' nurses to work within NHS trusts. There are over 120 such clinical nurse specialists currently working in trusts across the country. The Roald Dahl nurses are jointly funded by the charity and the trusts in a 5-year programme, the charity paying for the first 2 years of employment, and the trust paying for the remaining 3 years. The nurses specialise in areas such as haematology, epilepsy, rare diseases, neuromuscular conditions, care for children with complex lifetime medical needs, or in supporting child patients to transition to adult healthcare. The nurses work with patients with complex needs, supporting them and their families to understand and better manage their health conditions, as well as acting as a liaison between the parents and other medical care providers. Providing support that improves the patients' well-being and reduces their utilisation of other medical resources. In 2020, a 2-year project (partly funded by the charity) to evaluate the effectiveness of the Roald Dahl nurses described the concept as a 'new model of paediatric nursing' and found that the nurses improved both the quality and experience of care of patients and their families. == History and patrons ==