New Child Bereavement Suite at QMC creates private, compassionate space for families
Posted on: 26 May 2026
Led by NUH Child Bereavement Nurse Specialist Lucy Lawton and her team, the project has created a new space that families describe as a “little oasis” within the hospital, where they can grieve privately and be together.
A new Child Bereavement Suite has opened at Queen’s Medical Centre, funded by Nottingham Hospitals Charity and fundraising of bereaved families. The dedicated space provides privacy and dignity for families during end-of-life care, bereavement conversations, and ongoing support away from the busy hospital environment.
The challenge
Families experiencing the death of a child at Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) were often having to go through the most traumatic moments of their lives in inappropriate clinical environments, including busy corridors and ward areas.
Parents Nicola and Paul Johnson described how, following the death of their daughter Phoebe in 2021, they were left receiving end-of-life confirmation in a public hospital corridor. The lack of privacy, quiet, and dedicated space added to their distress at an already devastating time.
Staff also recognised that there was no single, dedicated bereavement space within the children’s hospital to support families consistently or sensitively, and no appropriate environment for staff debrief and emotional support following a child’s death.
What the grant funded
The space was designed to bring together bereavement support services in one place, away from the clinical activity of the wider hospital.
The grant supported the conversion of a former office space within the hospital school into a calm, non-clinical environment
The space includes a central memory tree where families can leave personalised tributes to their children.
The grant provided practical items such as furniture, desks and decoration of the space.
Measurable outcomes
Although the tea parties look simple, they support several meaningful outcomes:
A dedicated Child Bereavement Suite is now available for all families within the children’s hospital
Families can access a private, calm environment for end-of-life care discussions, death confirmations, and bereavement support
A single, centralised space now supports both families and staff involved in bereavement care
Staff have access to an appropriate setting for reflection and emotional debrief following the death of a child
The suite is actively being used for memory-making and ongoing bereavement follow-up sessions
Staff relflections
Child bereavement nurse specialists highlighted the importance of creating a dedicated, sensitive environment for families at end of life and after death.
They described bereavement care as a continuation of care rather than an endpoint, emphasising that families need dignity, privacy, and compassion at every stage. Staff involved in the project explained that the vision for the suite came directly from frontline experience and the need for a space away from the busy hospital environment where families could be properly supported.
What patients and loved ones say
Nicola and Paul Johnson, alongside other bereaved families, described their previous experience as deeply traumatic due to the lack of privacy at the time of their daughter Phoebe’s death.
They shared that the new suite represents a meaningful change, offering what they described as a “little oasis” within the hospital where families can grieve privately and be together.
For them, contributing to the creation of the space has also provided a sense of purpose, with their fundraising helping to ensure that other families do not have to experience the same lack of dignity and privacy during such critical moments.
From heartbreak to hope: Families help create new bereavement space at QMC
Thanks to Nottingham Hospitals Charity, and the fundraising of bereaved families, a child bereavement suite has opened, offering a calm, non-clinical environment away from the busy wards and departments of the children’s hospital.
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