Roald Dahl Nurses Conference 2025

Over 200 Roald Dahl Nurses will gather in Birmingham on International Nurses Day (12 May) ahead of Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity’s national conference which will shine a spotlight on new approaches and innovations which are challenging and changing inequalities in paediatric care.

Over 200 Roald Dahl Nurses currently support more than 40,000 children across the UK – this year’s conference is themed on health inequalities faced by children with complex medical conditions.

Speakers at the conference include Ellen Duke, Deputy Director of Children and Young People's Nursing at NHS England, Paediatric Consultant Ronny Cheung from the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health, and Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu, Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London, Joanne Martin, a Roald Dahl Nurse and advanced clinical CMC practitioner at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. They will lead discussions on some of the key challenges in paediatric care and how nursing approaches can meet them.  Writing in the latest issues of the Nursing Times - the event's media partner - Roald Dahl Nurse Joanne Martin says the NHS faces three key challenges when it comes to delivering equitable care for children with medical complexity - identifying them early enough rather than letting families struggle alone with the complex care; understanding their bespoke needs, and understanding their impact on hospitals which aren't set up for children with medical complexity and the multiple appointments, admissions and extended bed days it requires.  "Improvements in care and advances in technology are increasing survival rates for children with medical complexity including premature babies and those with low birth weight or congenital conditions,” she adds. “These children experience more prolonged and repeated hospital stays. They deserve equity in care and support - the NHS must recognise how children with medical complexity care can provide it." Kath Evans, Director of Children's Nursing at Barts Health in London and Trustee of Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity who'll be addressing the conference, says the nurses are recruited for their specialist expertise but also for their compassion and recognition of how battle-weary families become as their time is consumed by the care they give and appointments they attend. "Roald Dahl Nurses can walk the road with families in a compassionate way so they can support them through the most challenging times, advocating and championing their children. It's no surprise that, once established, Roald Dahl Nurses prove to be worth their weight in gold and are embraced by the NHS to become business as usual, while still being supported by the charity's network and services." "We believe every child living with a serious illness deserves a Roald Dahl Nurse and are fundraising to establish more in post," says Louise Griew, Chief Executive of Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity. "The families our nurses support are often not only dealing with the shock of a new diagnosis, but navigating dozens of appointments, repeated hospital stays or surgeries, and all the anxiety of working out what's next for their child. We are currently supporting over 40,000 families but we know there are tens of thousands of others who could benefit from the work our Roald Dahl Nurses do.”