Environment and facilities

For many children, the change from home to hospital can be a sudden one.  For others, hospital stays can be frequent and long term.  Environment can have a huge impact on our overall wellbeing and it’s why we as a charity work with the hospital to help provide calming and comforting surroundings for young patients and their families. Here’s where some of the money you raised went in 2020. 

 

RHINO sensory trolleys 

Thanks to your support, several wards have sensory rooms where children and parents can go to relax, play and get away from the clinical setting of the hospital for a while. But not every child is mobile and because it’s our firm belief that no-one should miss out, we have introduced a new way to bring the sensory environment to children at the bedside.

Mum of PCCU patient, Sam, said he loved using one of the new mobile sensory trolleys during his long stay on the unit.

Senior nurse, Emma Smith, says: “The mobile unit means we are now able to transform each clinical bed space on PCCU into a sensory sanctuary for children recovering in critical care. The distraction of the bubble column and fibre optic lights provide a soothing and relaxing sensory experience for all our patients no matter how old they are”

 

A home from home for Oscar 

Little Oscar didn’t get to see his home for the first 19 months of his life, let alone his own bedroom.  He spent all of that time in hospital, mostly in isolation.  So when we were asked by the ward staff on Island ward to give Oscar a home from home, we were more than willing to help.

Oscar was born with CHARGE syndrome, a condition that effects his breathing, heart, hearing and sight. His first operation at only a day old was to correct a tracheo-oesophagael fistula (TOF), an abnormal connection between the trachea and the oesophagus. He’s since had at least ten other operations and is currently awaiting more.

Oscar was also born with no natural immunity so for the first 12 months he and his mum, Bryony, spent their time in almost complete isolation – first in a room on NICU and then in a room on Rainbow ward. They only took their first walk outside together just a few days before Oscar’s first birthday.

Bryony wanted more than anything to take Oscar home but until she was able to, we were able to bring a bit of home to their hospital room. Oscar loves Toy Story so his ‘bedroom’ was given a makeover complete with his own bedding, bunting, lampshade and cuddly toy.

 

The continued dedication of our supporters allows us to help Oscar, Bryony and thousands of families like them in a whole host of ways. Here are the ways in which people like you made the most difficult months of one family’s life a little bit better:  

  • Through our Tiny Lives Appeal, you made it possible for us to fund state of the art equipment that kept Oscar alive during those perilous first months.
  • You funded the ventilators on NICU and PCCU that helped Oscar breathe when he was very ill and the theatre suite where he had his first life-saving operation.
  • You funded the play team who have supported Bryony in keeping Oscar entertained and achieving his milestones.
  • You helped us provide food for Bryony and other parents like her during lockdown when ward restrictions were tight.
  • You helped us bring a bit of home to Oscar’s hospital room with a Toy Story themed makeover