HUDDERSFIELD families with poorly children are to benefit from extra nursing visits after the service has been extended.

Young patients needing home visits from the children’s community nurses can now also be seen after school and at weekends.

The move by the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust comes as part of a three-month trial to extend the current service and develop care for children closer to home.

Adele Thomas, who co-ordinates the team, said: “The extended service will not only minimise unnecessary hospital visits but also reduce some of the anxieties experienced by the child and their family.

“Families already known to the team can contact a nurse who they are familiar with and we can offer advice over the phone or carry out a home visit.”

The team provides care across Huddersfield and Calderdale for children who have recently been discharged from hospital after a serious illness or who need long-term support at home.

Eighteen-month-old Riisé Gordon is among those who have benefited from the service. The toddler had to undergo gastric bypass surgery in Leeds General Infirmary when he was only four days old.

He then had to be fed through a special tube directly into his stomach following the operation.

His mum, Miranda Gordon, of Cowlersley, said: “The paediatric team has been a constant source of support to our family.

“They have given us the confidence and skills to care for our son at home.”

Riisé has recently had the bypass procedure reversed and can now eat normally.