In that mood, the more than 120 participants in the MKS Afternoon Symposium in De Soester Duinen returned home yesterday. Just as the organizers intended. Mission accomplished!

MKS is alive. Pediatrician Jan Peter Rake put it nicely in his talk: ten years ago, MKS started as a system, but now it is a vision of how you can shape the care for children and families together, both inside and outside the hospital.

“It just works best together. In more and more places you see that healthcare providers simply start with that insight. For example, first for a certain group of children. And then it spreads like an oil slick.”

Organize together the care that child and family need. That's what we want, and many healthcare providers are already doing it, says Rake. “Unfortunately, our healthcare system is not very cooperative with all its domains, tubes, islands and walls. In child care, we break through those obstacles with MKS.”

“Have you read the Integrated Care Agreement? Together we must organize patient-oriented care in the right place, it says. In networks. I say: that is plagiarism, because that is MKS.”

Jeroen van der Velden of Nyenrode University, who specializes in networking, had noticed the same thing. Child care providers are at the forefront, he says. “The formal care system gets stuck, but informally you find each other again. This is how those networks are created, often without you realizing it.”

Not complicated

Immediately after the opening of the symposium by Eva Eikhout, pediatric nurses Kitty Stoker (Children's Burns Center Beverwijk) and Carina de Munck (KinderThuisZorg) showed that the MKS method is not complicated. In a relatively short period of time they organized permanent cooperation between care providers and other involved professionals inside and outside the hospital.

Carina de Munck:

“As a goal, you simply keep in mind that you want the care for children and families in the hospital to flow seamlessly into care at home. Then it actually happens automatically.”

To learn from each other

The desire to help organize the right care in the right place for every child. That was what binds the visitors to 'Their life, our care'. A wonderful opportunity to learn from each other. How exactly did you approach it in Beverwijk? And what are the experiences with MKS in Breda? How do KinderThuisZorg nurses view MKS? And those of Vivre, of ZigZag care and of Expert Care?

Pediatric nurse Mirjam Zeebregts, initiator of setting up MKS in and around the Amphia in Breda, urged the many colleagues in the room to take the lead. “Show nursing leadership. Don't be afraid, trust your expertise as a nurse and your experience. And just start next Monday.”

workshops

For those who do intend to do so, there was plenty of knowledge to be gained in the workshops on parts of the MKS working method. For example, in the session about conversation tools such as the My Positive Health Child Tool and the IMPACT tools, which children can use to explore for themselves what they want when it comes to their care. Other workshops focused on practical MKS tools, the importance of digital data exchange and cross-domain indexing.

A special experience was offered by the workshop on networking that, very appropriately, took place in the pub in the basement of De Soester Duinen. In addition to the Networks Integral Child Care, Jeroen van der Velden also played a leading role here - with his story, but certainly also with his piano playing...

Thanks

A wonderful day, according to the organizers Kind & Hospital, the professional association Kinderverzorgkunde.nl and Knowledge Center for Palliative Care for Children. To all who made this special day possible, especially the parents, the speakers, day chairman Eva Eikhout, De Soester Duinen and of course our sponsors Expert Care, Make a Wish, ZigZag care and KinderThuisZorg: many thanks!