Meet Kirsty Robertson, CHAI’s Welfare Adviser at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (RHCYP) in Edinburgh.
With over four years at CHAI and a background in housing and legal services, Kirsty is dedicated to supporting parents of children admitted to or attending the hospital. Since launching in 2020, the RHCYP Welfare Advice Service has provided crucial support on benefits, housing, debt, and more—securing £2.3 million in financial gains for families.
By reducing wait times and offering tailored advice, the service ensures parents get the help they need, when they need it. As demand grows, CHAI remains committed to expanding and adapting the service to best support families facing financial hardship due to child ill-health.
If you or someone you know could benefit, get in touch!
Below is Kirsty’s story in her own words…
“My name is Kirsty Robertson, and I am CHAI’s Welfare Adviser within Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Children and Young People. I have been with CHAI as a Welfare Adviser for over four years. Prior to joining CHAI, I was a Housing Adviser based at the homelessness charity Four Square who partnered with CHAI and Granton Information Centre to deliver advice and representation services to clients under CHAI’s Edinburgh Housing Advice Partnership.
I spent five years as a housing adviser with Four Square and prior to that I had volunteered with CHAI whilst working part-time with the City of Edinburgh Council. I spent twenty-five years with the Council undertaking various roles within its legal and licensing divisions. It was during this time I studied law part-time at Napier University attaining my law degree in 2010. Whilst I enjoyed working with the Council and studying law, I decided I wanted to have a more fulfilling client focused role and, it was this that led me to volunteer with CHAI and my current role within RHCYP.
RHCYP’s Welfare Advice Service is a relatively new service which began in January 2020. The purpose of my role is to develop a service providing assistance and advice to parents of children, admitted to, or attending the hospital as outpatients, on issues such as benefits, benefit appeals, grant applications, housing, and debt.
The help and assistance offered to parents is not restricted to these issues as I try to be as flexible as possible on advising on all issues parents present with. Where I cannot advise I refer or signpost parents to the most suitable organisation able to provide the help or advise needed.
I also welcome parents, other organisation and medical staff contacting me to discuss referrals. The 2020 lockdown and related restrictions seriously impacted establishing and promoting the new welfare service within the hospital site amongst parents and medical staff.
Since the restrictions were lifted, I now have a presence within the hospital, the Welfare Service developed into both a face to face and telephone appointment service with an increased use of online benefit application forms. The service has seen steady increases in referral rates from the project start in 2020 up to today’s date. The adviser carries out on average 250 appointments with parents each yearly quarter. The financial gains to parents between the project start date to September 2024 is nearly £1.5million. Non-financial gains are also attained e.g. alternative suitable accommodation and clothing etc.
There is a need for the Welfare Advice Service within RHCYP primarily due to the volume of people within the community trying to find and access free and impartial advice services at times when advice is needed. The volume of services users, changes to benefits and pressures on and issues with housing all place additional pressures on community-based advice services.
However, with the RHCYP Welfare Advice Service, CHAI has applied its ethos and objectives to meet the needs of parents, avoid parents waiting lengthy periods of time for appointments and have attained good financial gains for parents which helps towards addressing the financial difficulties families face due to child ill-health.
RHCYP’s Welfare Advice Service has the potential to further develop in the future to ensure it continually meets the need of the hospital and parents. The welfare advice service belongs to RHCYP and delivered by CHAI but, it must be delivered in a manner which is measurable, fosters trust amongst medical staff who make referrals and parents using the service. The service needs to be receptive to change to remain fit for purpose and to meet the changing needs of the hospital and parents.
This is the type of role I have wanted to carry out and, with the opportunity of partnership working, a service can be developed and delivered to people who need the service at the time they need it.”
