Rebecca House is a purpose-built facility providing respite, palliative, and end-of-life care for babies, children, and young people from birth to age 18. We support those living with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions on the Isle of Man.
While we provide care during the most difficult times, our environment is designed to be a "home from home." We focus on creating a relaxed, warm, and bright atmosphere where children can play, have fun, and be themselves. It is a place for making precious memories.
As a registered charity, all care provided by Rebecca House and Hospice Isle of Man is free of charge to patients and their families. We rely on community donations and fundraising to ensure this support continues.
Referral to Rebecca House can be done through a professional such as a health visitor, GP, consultant or community nurse. Once the referral has been received a member of our staff will call you to arrange an initial assessment to evaluate whether your child will fit our criteria, if your child fits our criteria they will then be accepted on to our caseload. Once on the caseload we will use our resource allocation framework which will calculate how many hours of respite you will receive per month and this will be regularly reviewed by their named nurse.
The criteria for our caseload can be found here –
Key information about children who may need palliative care
Directory of Life Limiting Conditions - Together for Short Lives
Our opening hours vary each week, the reason for this is the majority of the children on our caseload are school age, so we are typically open a few days a week to provide respite for the pre school children and also open for a few tea time sessions, most weekends and some nights over the week. The days and nights that we are open differ as care is provided on a request basis, depending on family needs.
Each child will be given an amount of hours based on their resource allocation framework assessment and these hours can be used however the parents or carers feel will be most useful. We can also provide block care to be booked in advanced if parents need a longer period of respite, for examble if they are going away and the child is unable to go with them. For children receiving end-of-life care, we are open 24 hours a day to support the child and their family throughout their stay.
Your child will be cared for by a multi-disciplinary team. The current Rebecca House team includes Registered Nurses, Nursery Nurses, and Health Care Assistants, all specialising in paediatric palliative care.
Yes. Our "Children's Hospice at Home" service provides respite and end-of-life care in your own home if you would prefer, delivered by qualified nurses or nursery nurses to suit your family’s specific circumstances.
Yes. We have specialised family accommodation and a family apartment on-site. This allows parents and siblings to stay close by while our team manages the child's clinical needs, providing the family with a chance to rest or spend quality time together.
We offer a Young Person’s Support Service for siblings and young people up to the age of 21. This includes one-to-one psychological and bereavement support, as well as a sibling group where they can meet others in similar situations and enjoy shared activities.
We are committed to supporting young people during their transition from children’s to adult care. This will include attending multidisciplinary care meetings and working with adult services, who may come to Rebecca House to learn more about your child by observing them, interacting with them and reading through their individualised care plans; our team also works closely with the family to ensure this journey is as smooth and supportive as possible.
If adult services is in place when your child turns 18 our care will end, if adult care is not yet established we will carry on with respite as long as there is a transition plan in place; in either circumstances your child will remain on our caseload until their nineteenth birthday, this will give peace of mind that we can be contacted to help should any issues arise.
We have between 40 – 50 families on our case load and we always welcome new referrals.
No not at all. Some of our children go to local schools and we encourage them to attend if they are with us for respite care, as long as they are well enough. If they are unable to attend school due to ill health or are in hospital we can provide outreach care to give families a break if needed.
No, not at all. A lot of people automatically think of cancer or leukaemia however the majority of children and young people who attend Rebecca House Children's Hospice do not have a cancer-related illness.
The Rainbow Room is a private, intimate suite available to any family on the Island who has lost a child or young person. It serves as a special place of rest for the child until the day of the funeral, allowing families to stay together and say goodbye in their own time. Our Rainbow Room is available to all families irrespective of the circumstances of the child or young person’s death.
Yes. Families are encouraged to take a tour of Rebecca House, meet the team, and ask any questions before starting respite or care services. We want you to feel comfortable and confident before your child’s first visit.
Respite availability is based on each family’s needs and our capacity. We work closely with families to plan stays in advance, ensuring equal access and tailored support.
People can support us by donating, fundraising, or spreading awareness. We also welcome corporate partners and community groups who want to help make a difference. For more information, please email fundraising@hospice.org.im.
Rebecca House Children’s Hospice is the dedicated children’s hospice service of Hospice Isle of Man, which is a registered Isle of Man charity – registration number 317.
We are able to provide transport to and from Rebecca House for respite sessions for some children in certain circumstances, for example if parents or carers cannot drive, this would be subject to us having enough staff members and a member of staff who is able to drive the bus, therefore we would need to know in advance if you need our help with transport.
Yes, the catering staff in Hospice provide meals for the children on our caseload, this can include a hot or cold meal that we can request depending on their preference and we are also trained to administer enteral feeds, milk for this should be provided by parents or carers. We can also provide snacks and can cater to allergies and nutritional needs however if your child requires or prefers very specific food you may be asked to provide this for their time with us.
Yes, we regularly go out on trips with our children in our wheelchair accessible mini bus, we love going out for the day and try to plan trips as much as we can.
For your child’s respite session we can provide food, syringes for medication and we also have basic toiletries for bathing and showering. Parents and carers should provide items for enteral feeds including milk, giving sets, spare mic-key button, gastrostomy extension, feeding pump and charger. We will also require from home nappies/pads, body creams/emollient, spare clothes and baby bottles for feeds.
If your child if staying overnight they will need a toothbrush, toothpaste, a hairbrush and pyjamas, they can also bring in anything else that may help them during their respite session this may include teddies, blankets, pillows, night light, white noise machine and so on.