12 December 2012
New hospital ward uniquely designed for 11 to 16 year olds opens at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children
A brand new hospital
ward, uniquely designed for 11 to 16 year olds with a variety of
complex health issues including cancer, was opened by University
Hospital Bristol NHS Foundation Trust today (12 December) at
Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. The home-from-home themed ward
is unlike any other ward in the hospital thanks to design expertise
by Teenage Cancer Trust and the enhancements funded jointly by
Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal and Teenager Cancer Trust.
Deborah Lee, Director of Strategic Development, said: "This
development is a response to the growing understanding that
children recover more quickly and achieve better overall outcomes
when the care provided is sensitive to their age and by
association, the unique challenges facing them as they move through
their teenage years; we are delighted with the new ward and could
not have achieved this without the fantastic support of our
charitable partners".
The new ward, known as Ward 35, has been built as part of the
work to extend the children's hospital to accommodate services that
will move fromFrenchayHospitalin 2014. Children's neurosciences,
scoliosis surgery, burns and plastic surgery services will move to
the children's hospital in 2014. All specialist inpatient
children's services inBristolwill then be located
together.
The 14 bedded ward consists of ten single en-suite bedrooms and
a four bedded bay. The majority of the beds will be used for
patients who have had surgery or medical treatment and six beds
will directly support young people with cancer.
To make the ward feel and look more like a home-from-home rather
than a normal hospital ward, over £200,000 was donated jointly by
Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal and Teenage Cancer Trust. It's
the first time the two charities have worked together and is also a
unique moment in Teenage Cancer Trust's history of lending its
design expertise from building specialist cancer units in NHS
hospitals across theUKto another development for young people.
To replicate a young person's bedroom at home, the patient
bedrooms feature funky furniture, vibrant wall designs, mood
lighting, TV/DVD equipment and computer gaming and internet
facilities. Ward 35 also has two social areas, incorporating
dining, gaming and chill-out zones. The areas are equipped with
soft furnishings, Sky TV and games consoles. There is also a
glassed garden room that is designed to bring a little bit of the
outside world in, featuring a digital jukebox and Air Hockey game.
A dedicated parent's room and kitchen area as well as treatment
rooms and staff areas have also been created.
Anna Shepherd, Deputy Director at Wallace & Gromit's Grand
Appeal comments about the opening: "It is very exciting to see one
of the first stages of the children's hospital expansion complete
as we continue to fundraise to support the services transferring
from Frenchay Hospital in 2014. When the hospital opened in
2001 the Adolescent Ward was created with young people in mind,
however the way young people interact has changed so much since
then that it is great to see this reflected in the new ward
designs. Ward 35 for adolescents looks amazing and we would like to
thank the many donors from Bristol and the South West who have
contributed to the Grand Appeal to make this funding possible."
As the Bristol children's hospital charity, Wallace &
Gromit's Grand Appeal has raised over £21 million to support the
hospital, and is now committed to raising a further £3.5 million
towards the funding of the children's hospital expansion. This will
provide a new integrated children's cancer unit, interactive and
child-friendly artwork to reduce anxiety, a state-of-the-art Hybrid
Theatre and a dedicated intra-operative paediatric MRI scanner
which will be the first of its kind in the South of England.
Brendan McIntyre, Teenage Cancer Trust Service Development
Manager for the South comments: "This is a special moment for
Teenage Cancer Trust in the South West as it marks the first phase
in a multi-million pound investment we are making in young people's
cancer services. Special thanks to all our supporters and in
particular The Scott Williams Memorial Fund and Lady Wills who
organised boutique music festival Langford Live, who have funded
the Ward 35 enhancements."
The Ward 35 opening comes at a time when Teenage Cancer Trust is
also working on plans to develop a new state-of-the-art specialist
cancer unit for 16-24 year olds in the Bristol Haematology and
Oncology Centre. In partnership with North Bristol NHS Trust,
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust is the designated
teenage and young adult principle treatment centre for the South
West and Teenage Cancer Trust will be investing £3.5million into
cancer services for young people in the region.
Teenage Cancer Trust is the only UK charity dedicated to
improving the quality of life and chances of survival for young
people with cancer aged 13 to 24. Every day, six young people are
diagnosed with cancer, with approximately 160 diagnosed across the
South West each year.
Sonya Thomas, aged 17, from Torpoint Cornwall, has spent many
months at the children's hospital as she has Crohn's disease and
ulcerative colitis. After visiting the new ward today she said:
"The new environment feels more like a home than a hospital. If you
have been in hospital for a long time you need to have space to
relax and socialise and the new ward has three amazing rooms where
this can happen."
Ella Cottle, aged 15, from Aust near Severn Beach, has been
receiving treatment for cancer at the children's hospital over the
last year and a half. She says: "The new ward is much more modern
than the ward I was treated on and there are far more individual
rooms which gives people more privacy. When I was in hospital and
neutropenic they would sometimes move me to the oncology unit so
that I could have my own space, but I didn't know anyone on that
ward. Now they won't have to move people from the adolescent ward
because there are so many single rooms here."
For more information on Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal
visit http://www.grandappeal.org.uk/ For more
information on Teenage Cancer Trust visit www.teenagecancertrust.org/southwest
BACK TO NEWS
