Young Patients Family Fund

Who can get the Young Patient Family Fund?

The fund is for parents, primary carers and siblings under 18 who need to visit a hospital inpatient under 18. All claimants need to live in Scotland.

 

How to apply

To claim, you’ll need to fill out a Young Patients Family Fund claim form. This form needs to be completed, signed by a medical professional, and submitted to the hospital.

You can either:

• Download the form from the Scottish Government website.
• Ask at the hospital for the form.

 

When to claim

You can make a claim either:

• As often as you need to throughout the young inpatient’s stay in hospital, for example each week.
• Once, claiming for everything in full after they have been discharged.

Claims must be made within three months of the patient’s discharge.

 

What can be claimed

• Travel: Eligible travel costs include mileage for one daily return car journey, standard class public transport with receipts, parking fees, and in exceptional, pre-approved cases, taxi fares or weekly return flights where necessary.
• Accommodation: The hospital should be able to offer you accommodation if necessary. If hospital accommodation is not available, you can get some of the cost covered of reasonably priced overnight accommodation, but the hospital need to book this for you.
• Meals: A daily flat-rate allowance of £8.50 per eligible visitor is available for meals and non-alcoholic beverages. Alternatively, meals or meal tokens may be provided by the hospital.

 

What’s not covered

The fund does not cover outpatient visits, loss of earnings, childcare costs, car hire, fines, parking fees, or alcoholic drinks. Receipts are required for travel and accommodation claims, but not for the flat-rate meal allowance.