YORK parents whose children have a range of special needs are campaigning for a hospital-based counselling service to help other families through the shock of diagnosis.

Families who attend the Children's Development Centre at York Hospital say that it is vitally important that parents receive the counselling support they need to enable them to adjust to their extra responsibilities in caring for a poorly child.

The group has formed a petition which they plan to hand to Simon Pleydell, chief executive of York Health Services NHS Trust. Group member Alison Mitten, 37, whose four-year-old son, Edward, has the rare Pallister Killian Syndrome, which left him blind until he was five months old, said counselling was a vital part of the diagnosis process.

Without it, she said, parents are left to cope with devastating news on their own.

Mrs Mitten said: "We were told the news by a paediatrician and then left to get on with it really.

"We have heard similar stories from other parents. There's no provision for counselling at the point of diagnosis.

"It's a form of bereavement because the child you thought you had is taken away from you and we are presented with a different child.

"For some people the news can be as devastating as if their child had not lived."

Mrs Mitten said that when she was told about Edward's condition she was unable to leave the house for two weeks.

Edward is now doing extremely well and although he suffers from visual problems, speech and language difficulties and low muscle tone, he is preparing to go to a mainstream school in September.

Mrs Mitten said: "We are being realistic in our aims, we are not asking for a full time counsellor, just someone to cover the times when a paediatrician is giving a diagnosis, and then follow-up sessions."

A health trust spokesman said: "The trust welcomes the views of parents, and their input will help to improve the care we provide for their children.

"We are continually reviewing, and developing the services we provide, to ensure we meet the needs of the children we care for and their families."

Updated: 09:10 Thursday, April 17, 2003