Just read this entire thread and need a nap now. Poor child, what a dreadful situation.
Just to clear up a few hospice-related posts that I’ve seen:
It is very possible to transfer a mechanically ventilated person to a children’s hospice for end of life care. Usually this will be for a pre-agreed, short, period of time before extubation takes place and ventilation is removed.
It would have been discussed with the family that it is possible the child will die en-route, as the journey can cause the child to become clinically unstable.
But mostly, this sort of transfer takes meticulous planning over a period of time. It’s not something you can usually just do the next day. I imagine the hospice has already been involved, in some form.
Children’s hospices in the UK are charities, not NHS. Many now ask for patient-specific NHS funding from commissioners as it is too expensive to fund from their charitable money.
It is not a pointless exercise to have end of life care in a hospice in situations like this as it’s an environment that can make the process easier. It’s quieter than an intensive unit, less pressure to hurry and often an entirely new set of staff, unrelated to an existing difficult situation, can be beneficial. The family will be able to choose to have their child remain at the hospice for a period of time after death, to spend time together and start to plan the next steps - registering the death, funeral planning and so on. This can be really a really helpful time.