BOSSES from an Oxford hospice flew to Japan to advise doctors about starting children’s hospice services in the country.

A delegation from Helen and Douglas House — the world’s first children’s hospice — were invited because the country currently has no hospices for terminally ill youngsters.

The founder of Helen House, Sister Frances Dominica, and its chief executive, Tom Hill, were invited by Masayo Kidani, a Japanese woman living in Berkshire, who wants to establish children’s hospice services in her home country after visiting the Oxford respite centre.

And the delegation was joined by six young children from Helen and Douglas House on the trip — which included meeting Empress Michiko.

The visit comes two years after the Emperor and Empress of Japan visited the Magdalen Road hospice.

Mr Hill said: “The interest in Helen and Douglas House is huge.

“All of the Japanese medical fraternity are interested in palliative care but particularly in paediatrics and how we look after those children in the UK who have limited life expectancy.

“They are interested in how we look after them, not just at the end of their life but throughout their whole lives, and how we support the families throughout the life of that child.

“This is just not happening in Japan. Helen House was the first children’s hospice.

“That concept has now started to go worldwide and there are now children’s hospices in the States, Germany, Australia and the Czech Republic.

“Whenever a children’s hospice is starting up and the founders are doing the preparatory work and starting to pool their information together, inevitably they ask to come to Helen House.

“There’s a rich history in helping the hospice movement to develop in other countries.”

Mr Hill gave a talk to 600 delegates at a conference in Tokyo, in which he highlighted the importance of the depth of a person’s experiences, not the length.

The group were also the guests of honour during visits to two Tokyo children’s hospitals, where they met the Empress.

As part of the two-week tour, young patients from Helen and Douglas House enjoyed a traditional Japanese tea ceremony and were also made guests at Universal Studios in Osaka.

Spokesman Lin Beekar said: “They had an incredible time and the fact that we were invited as pioneers of the children’s hospice movement in the world is amazing.”