Evolution of a youth work service in hospital

Youth workers are based predominantly in the community and use a range of informal educational activities to help young people between the ages of 11 and 25 cultivate their personal and social development. The supraregional paediatric nephrology unit at Nottingham City Hospital successfully evaluated the role of a youth worker, funded by a national renal charity, and secured long-term funding for the post in 2000 (Hilton et al 2004, Watson 2004). This article describes the evolution of the youth service over a decade, following the amalgamation of two children's units into one site and the creation of a unified youth service for the Nottingham Children's Hospital in 2008.