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Welcome!

I’m Catherine, I'm a health play specialist and I can support you and your child, whatever their age, through healthcare experiences; past, present and future. After nearly 15 years supporting children, young people and their families in hospitals for the NHS, I have taken my passion for supporting children and young people out to their own homes.

Does your child have a procedure or appointment coming up? I can help prepare them so that they know what to expect and walk into that appointment feeling more empowered and confident. Perhaps they have had a negative experience in the past and now feel anxious about the dentist? I can work through some of those anxieties to help them feel more at ease and in control of their next check-up. How are you feeling about your child's medical experiences? We can work together to ensure that you both feel supported and ready for that next appointment. 

Feel free to explore my page and contact me to arrange your free 15 minute call. 

I look forward to hearing from you!

"My daughter was so worried at the prospect of the procedure, and somehow she's now excited? I don't know how you did this magic!...I am so grateful for the time you spent empowering her, supporting her in finding ways to talk with the staff and make her own choices"

Mother of 7 year old. Preparation for Ultrasound Scan

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About me

Hi, I'm Catherine and I'm the founder of The Confident Patient Project.

I'm passionate about empowering children and young people and their families when visiting healthcare settings so that they can walk in feeling in control and confident. Health play specialists work around the country in hospitals, hospices and community settings to improve children and young people's healthcare experience. But many families I've worked with wanted support before they arrived at the hospital, and many felt they needed additional support after they had gone home.

After my undergraduate degree in childhood and youth studies, I qualified to be a health play specialist in 2008. I love to learn so I have also completed a postgraduate certificate in therapeutic communication with children and young people and I have a masters degree in infant mental health- I can't get enough!

I have a few jobs. My favourite and proudest is my job as a mum of two young children. My son had medical treatment throughout the first year of his life and so I know firsthand what it feels like to be on the other side. 

I left the NHS in late 2022 to start The Confident Patient Project and I still visit hospitals regularly as part of my other job as an assessor coach for health play specialist apprentices. I love visiting them on their placements and watching them learn and grow in confidence over their two year training.

I am also a trustee for the Society of Health Play Specialists (SoHPS) where I regularly attend meetings to review and improve our profession. Every year I help to assess the re-registration portfolios of our registered health play specialists. I feel very privileged to read all about the amazing things our registrants do in hospitals, hospices and communities around the country.

Services

I provide support both in person and online. 

I am happy to visit you in your home if you live in the London Boroughs of Islington, Haringey, Camden or Hackney. If you are slightly outside of those areas send me a message and I may be able to work with you for a small additional fee. 

If you are outside London, I offer online sessions. These sessions are for parents and carers only, and will provide you with the confidence to support your child or young person.

Please see below for a list of the individual services I offer.

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Preparation

I can prepare you and/or your child, whatever their age, for an upcoming medical procedure, test or appointment. I will use a combination of real medical equipment, models of medical equipment and machinery, and photos to describe and explore what you may encounter at the appointment. 

We will talk about any specific worries or anxieties, as well as previous experiences.

In this session we will also look at coping mechanisms, distraction plan and ways to support your child during the appointment itself. 

This session lasts about an hour and costs £65 In-Person and £45 online

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Follow-up

Building confidence and building trust can take time. If a child or young person has had a difficult experience in the past it may take more than one session to help you, and them, feel more confident and more trusting of healthcare settings.

 

I offer follow-up sessions for the reduced price of £50 (in-person) and £35 (online) so that I can continue to support you and your child.

 

Please note that follow up sessions must relate to the initial session and can’t be booked for new procedures or concerns.

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Debrief

We will use this session to explore previous medical experiences. This can be helpful to rebuild trust and confidence after a negative healthcare experience. 

In person, I use a variety of methods to explore worries and emotions tied up with past experiences.

Online, I will discuss these with you and give you the tools and confidence you need to support your child. 

This session lasts about an hour and costs £65 In-Person and £45 online

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General medical support

This is a really flexible session that can be used to support children and young people who are experiencing healthcare, either directly or indirectly. Perhaps a loved one has been hospitalised and your child is concerned, perhaps there has been a recent new diagnosis in the family, or a long standing diagnosis and you feel it would be helpful to explore the emotions around it. 

I will use a combination of tools and methods to explore and support whatever suits the needs of your family.

This session lasts about an hour and costs £65 In-Person and £45 online

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Support package

This support package is designed to support your family before, during and after a medical procedure, treatment or admission.

 

It includes:

Preparation session;

Coping mechanisms and distraction plan;

Debrief session;

2x 20min check in calls

 

This bundle costs £135 in-person and £100 online.

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Pay it forward

Those who have worked with me know the benefits of the support I offer. I invite anyone who is able to contribute to a support session for a family who do not have the financial means but who would greatly benefit from the support.  This can be a partial or a full contribution, any contribution is welcome.

 

I have an open waiting list for those who would like to access one of these pre-paid sessions, there will be no cost to you. Please get in contact for availability, or if you would like to pay it forward to another family.

"I really enjoyed the session it has personally helped me so much. It's given me a language to talk about something I just felt really lost on... Just feeling so much more confident now though, so thank you again because I really wouldn't have known what to do without the session"

Mother of 9 month old. Preparation for Mother's procedure

Randall Johns, NY

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  • Do you have terms and conditions?
    I do have terms and conditions, which I send to everyone with their appointment confirmation email. This gives you a chance to read them and the opportunity to discuss any points you may wish to discuss. Please find my terms and conditions below: General: * The information, advice and support provided by The Confident Patient Project are designed to support your child and family with their experience and understanding of specific healthcare procedures. These skills have been learned and honed over many years of experience working successfully with hundreds of different families however it does not guarantee that your child’s future healthcare experiences will be challenge free. Data protection: * Your email address and phone number, along with any documentation you send me will be kept for a period of 2 years unless it is mutually agreed that it would be beneficial for The Confident Patient Project to keep the information for longer, or where I believe it would be in my professional interest to do so. * There may be a rare occasion that I will need to make your information available to a relevant third party where there is ethical need to do so (eg. if I feel there is a threat or serious hard to yourself, myself or a member of your family, or if there are safeguarding concerns) I may also need to share your contact details with an appropriate third party if I have an emergency and am unable to attend our scheduled session. * All information will be kept securely on a password protected laptop and mobile phone. * Your personal information will not be shared with any third party except where outlined above. Publicity and marketing: * Any message, feedback or review you provide may be used to support promotion and marketing of The Confident Patient Project unless you specifically prohibit its use in writing. Any text used will be edited to ensure anonymity and will only include the age of the child(ren) and the county lived in. Session details: * To enable The Confident Patient Project to prepare for the session, your completed pre-session questionnaire must be emailed at least 48 hours before your scheduled appointment. Failure to provide these documents on time may delay your session and may incur a cancellation fee. * Payment for services provided to The Confident Patient Project must be made through bank transfer at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled session. * If you need to cancel your session, you must inform The Confident Patient Project by text message, WhatsApp or email no later than 48 hours prior to the scheduled session. If I am unable to fill your session, there may be a cancellation fee of 75% of the invoiced cost of the session. If the session is rebooked within 24 hours of cancellation then there will be no cancellation charge a cancellation fee * Within a week of your session, a summary will be sent to you via email. You will be given a week to comment on the summary before it is saved as a true representation of the contents of the session. * All medical equipment that is used during an in-person session is either brand new and in it’s original unopened packaging or has been fully sterilised in line with NHS infection control standards before the session. * If you have been loaned any resources by The Confident Patient Project, they will need to be returned within two weeks of the event that it was loaned for.
  • Why do you only visit children and young people in their own home?
    I don’t have my own therapeutic space and to rent one would mean that I would have to significantly increase the price of my support. It is really important to me that the services I offer are as accessible as possible and so I try to keep my prices as low as I can. We could meet in a café, or a library, but it is not appropriate to discuss confidential information in public and talking about scary things can feel vulnerable. I hope that their home is a safe space where children and young people feel at their most relaxed and least threatened and so it is a perfect setting. I am very privileged to be invited into families' homes and it’s one of the things I love most about my job.
  • How do I book a session with you?
    If you are interested in having a session with me, please contact me using the contact form found at the bottom of this website or via email at hello@theconfidentpatientproject.co.uk or via text/WhatsApp on 07377 250 290.
  • What happens after I book a session with you?
    Once we confirm a date, I will send you a form via email. This is an important form as it gives me all the information, background and context I need to prepare for the session and support your family to the best of my ability. This form will need to be completed at least 1 week before the session. At the mutually agreed date and time, we will meet, and after our session I will send you a session summary. This will outline what was discussed and any practical hints and tips that were shared. This will be yours to keep and can be helpful to look back on at a later date. You have the opportunity to comment and amend the summary, please read the terms and conditions for more information.
  • Why do you only support parents and carers online?
    When I work with children and young people, I am constantly observing them, watching for their subtle reactions to things being said, looking at their body language and other non-verbal cues and communications. I respond and adjust what I am saying or doing as a result of that. When you only see a child or young person through a computer screen you miss a lot of that and it is harder to gauge their emotions. If a child were to feel worried or anxious about something that has come up in our session it is very difficult to contain that online. But what I can do is support you. I can give you all the information and tools you need to support your own child, in your own time, in your own way.
  • Why is it important to support children and young people for medical experiences?
    Hospitals, dentists, even the GP surgery can be scary places for children and young people. There are a lot of unknowns, often things hurt and they usually don’t get much choice in what happens to them. If children and young people feel prepared, feel confident and feel empowered then they are much more likely to have a positive experience and this will reduce the chance of any medical related trauma. Most people will need some sort of medical intervention in their life, often this happens in childhood. If we can ensure that children and young people have positive medical experiences this will reduce the anxiety and fear of healthcare going into adulthood.
  • Can you guarantee that my child will not be distressed during a medical appointment after support from The Confident Patient project?
    Unfortunately, no. There is no formula for supporting a child or young person with their medical experiences. Every child is different, every experience is personal and every session I deliver will be unique. What I can guarantee is that I will use all my knowledge and experience to support you and your family to the best of my ability.
  • How do I know if The Confident Patient Project can help me and my child?
    It can be a big decision to seek support and you may questions. I offer everyone a 15minute free, no obligation, phone call. This gives you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have, hear more about what I can offer, and get to know me. I'd be very happy to arrange a call with you, you can contact me using the contact form found at the bottom of this website or via email at hello@theconfidentpatientproject.co.uk or via text/WhatsApp on 07377 250 290.
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Get in Touch

If you have any questions or would like to book in for your free 15 minute discovery call please complete the form, send me an email, or a text on the number below. 

07377 250 290

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Thanks, I'll be in touch soon!

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