People who care

supporting people who care

Palliative Care for Children South Africa (PatchSA) is an inclusive and compassionate network that aims to share specialised knowledge, tools, resources and opportunities to ensure the best possible care for children with life-threatening and life-limiting illnesses, and to provide support to healthcare professionals, families and lay caregivers.

A registered non-profit organisation. NPO no: 124-201;

And a Public Benefit Organisation. PBO no: 930047744

Read our latest news, blogs and posts…

Leading on Paediatric Palliative Care in South Africa by Supporting Communities, Families & Healthcare Providers

PatchSA welcomes any families, lay caregivers and child-caring professional including paediatricians, GPs, nurses, social workers, allied health practitioners, psychologists, teachers, clergy etc to join the network.

Community

Community

PatchSA community seeks to empower the broader community to support professionals and affected families through fundraising and
other practical initiatives.

Family

Family

PatchSA  supports families and lay-caregivers through referrals and sharing information, practical tools and experiences along their unique journeys.

Learn more

Healthcare

Healthcare

PatchSA supports healthcare professionals through sharing information, the development of resources, promoting and providing learning opportunities, advancing advocacy and participating in research opportunities.

Join Us

Become a member. PatchSA welcomes family members, caregivers, child-caring and healthcare professionals to join the network.

Support Us

Help us help children with life-threatening and non-curable illnesses, and their families, to have the best quality life possible.

Subscribe

Receive our monthly email newsletters with the latest news and events relevant to children’s palliative care in South Africa.

About Us

Learn online through the Patch Academy

Patch Academy is the education branch of PatchSA. It is an online learning platform created as an educational resource for all members of the multidisciplinary palliative care team providing care to babies, toddlers, children and young adults with life-threatening and life-limiting illnesses and conditions and to their families. All Patch Academy courses are CPD accredited through the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA) with General and Ethics CPD points. Try our FREE course Introducing Children’s Palliative Care and earn 5 General CEU’s.

Visit the Patch Academy website

Perinatal Palliative Care: A guide to supporting families when a baby is at high risk of dying before or shortly after birth is a useful and easy to read guide on the key elements of perinatal palliative care written for midwives, nurses, doctors, social workers and anyone who provides care for families when a baby is diagnosed with a life-limiting condition in pregnancy or soon after delivery. The book can also be read for free online on the Bettercare website.

Palliative Care for Children: A guide for improving the quality of life of patients and their families is a useful and easy to read guide on the key elements of children’s palliative care written for doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, counsellors, spiritual leaders, teachers, therapists and anyone who interacts with and provides care for seriously ill children. The book can also be read for free online on the Bettercare website.

Purchase the guides

Read our latest news

PatchSA is the only national organisation providing strategic support to healthcare professionals, allied healthcare practitioners and parents and lay caregivers in South Africa. Our diverse membership represents those who provide palliative care services to children around the country and we do our best to keep you up to date on what is happening in the field both within our borders and internationally. Read our latest news and stories and subscribe to our monthly newsletter if you want to be kept informed.

Read our latest news

Find a children’s palliative care provider in South Africa

There are several services in South Africa dedicated to providing palliative care to children but these are inadequate to meet the growing need for paediatric palliative care provision on all levels. A number of predominantly adult hospices also have staff equipped and trained to provide hospice and palliative care services to babies, toddlers, children and adolescents. We have conveniently mapped and listed the names of all services who can provide palliative care to children along with their relevant contact details.

Find a Children’s Palliative Care Service in SA