A report from Healthcare Improvement Scotland highlights the growing impact of Scotland’s Hospital at Home programme, revealing that 340 babies and children received care through neonatal and paediatric Hospital at Home services between November 2025 and April 2026. Instead of spending days or weeks in hospital, many children were able to receive treatment, monitoring and support from healthcare professionals in the comfort and familiarity of their own homes.
For Children’s Health Scotland, this is not just an important development in healthcare delivery. It is also a powerful example of children’s rights being respected in practice.
A Key Children’s Healthcare Right
The European Association for Children in Hospital (EACH) Charter states that:
Children should only be admitted to hospital if the care they require cannot be provided equally well at home or on a day basis.
This principle recognises that, wherever possible, children should remain within their family environment, surrounded by familiar people, routines and comforts. Hospital care is sometimes essential, but when safe and appropriate alternatives exist, children should be given the opportunity to receive care closer to home.
The latest findings from Scotland’s Hospital at Home programme demonstrate exactly what this right looks like in action. Children who would previously have required lengthy hospital stays are increasingly able to access high-quality treatment without the disruption and anxiety that hospital admission can often create.
The Importance of Familiar Surroundings
Being admitted to hospital can be an unsettling experience for any child. Time away from home may mean separation from siblings, interruptions to education, missed opportunities to play, and the loss of familiar routines that help children feel safe and secure.
The Hospital at Home model helps minimise these challenges by bringing care directly to families. The report shares the story of baby Jude from Lanarkshire, whose treatment for a kidney infection was delivered largely at home following support from the Hospital at Home team. His family described the service as “invaluable”, allowing them to continue family life while ensuring Jude received the care he needed.
Stories like Jude’s remind us that healthcare is about more than clinical treatment. It is also about emotional wellbeing, family relationships and ensuring that children’s experiences of healthcare are as positive and supportive as possible.
Putting Rights into Practice
The expansion of paediatric Hospital at Home services across Scotland is an encouraging example of services adapting to meet the needs and rights of children and families.
At Children’s Health Scotland, we regularly hear from children, young people and families about the challenges they face navigating healthcare services. A recurring theme is the importance of care being delivered in ways that recognise children as individuals, respect family life and reduce unnecessary stress.
Programmes such as Hospital at Home help move healthcare closer to these ambitions. They support a rights-based approach by ensuring children can remain where they often feel safest: at home.
A Children’s Health Scotland Perspective
Commenting on the findings, Rhianne Forrest, Officer at Children’s Health Scotland, said:
This report is incredibly positive news for children, young people and families across Scotland. The EACH Charter reminds us that children should only be admitted to hospital when the care they need cannot be provided equally well at home or on a day basis. Hospital at Home shows what can happen when services are designed around that principle.
Being at home allows children to remain connected to their families, routines, education and the activities that matter to them. It can reduce anxiety and help children feel more comfortable while still receiving high-quality clinical care.
Most importantly, it demonstrates respect for children’s rights. By providing safe alternatives to hospital admission, we are recognising that healthcare should adapt to the needs of children and families, not the other way around. We welcome the continued rollout of these services and look forward to seeing more children benefit from care closer to home.
Looking Forward
The report also shows that Hospital at Home services continue to expand across Scotland, with additional health boards planning to introduce paediatric services in the future.
For Children’s Health Scotland, this represents another step towards a healthcare system that not only delivers excellent clinical outcomes but also recognises and upholds the rights, wellbeing and experiences of children and young people.
When safe, appropriate and clinically effective care can be delivered at home, children should be given that choice. The latest Hospital at Home findings show that Scotland is moving in the right direction, ensuring that children receive the care they need, in the place that is often best for them.
Read the full report from Healthcare Improvement Scotland here: https://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.scot/publications/media-release-new-report-shows-hundreds-of-children-avoided-hospital-stays-with-care-at-home/
