The Great North Children’s Hospital Foundation, part of Newcastle Hospitals Charity, is honoured to be one of the charity partners for Bradley Hall’s Festive Fundraiser 2023.
241,000 children attend The Great North Children’s Hospital every year, the equivalent number of more than three quarters of Newcastle upon Tyne’s population, where the hospital is based.
32,000 are inpatients. 44,000 visit the Paediatric Emergency Department. 150,000 have outpatient appointments. 15,000 are day cases. People from across the North East and beyond depend on the crucial services the hospital provides day in, day out.
Projects the Great North Children’s Hospital Foundation has supported this year include new seating for the hospital’s Paediatric Emergency Assessment Unit and Paediatric A&E. The new seats create a colourful, child friendly environment, making children and families attending the department feel at ease and comfortable, despite the stress a hospital visit can cause.
Lyndy Fawcus, Health Play Specialist at the Great North Children’s Hospital, said: “I feel these seats help to alleviate any stress they may be feeling.
“The seats are bright, colourful and above all comfortable, which is very important for those children and families who have to wait for long periods of time, often in pain. We have had lots of positive feedback and feel they have made a huge difference to all who attend the department.”
The Foundation has also supported investment in a couple of projectors, including a sensory projector for Ward 10, to make the hospital experience more enjoyable for children.
In the hospital’s Paediatric Assessment Unit, where young patients attending A&E have assessment and monitoring, there is a new distraction projector. This projector shows a range of calming scenes, distracting patients from uncomfortable procedures, such as having bloods taken.
Lyndy Fawcus added about this funding: “This projector makes a huge difference to the children who come into resus and monitoring and helps ensure the experience is much less scary for them.”
Meanwhile, The Great North Children’s Hospital Foundation funded two project coordinators, Gareth Williams and Melissa Scott, from the Newcastle United Foundation to work with our hospital’s young patients to help make their hospital experience the best it possibly can be. A couple of our patients even got the opportunity to watch Eddie Howe’s men in the Premier League at the start of this season thanks to this partnership.
The hospital works with both the Newcastle United Foundation and The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, part of Newcastle Hospitals Charity, to support children from across the region receiving treatment. This includes fun activities on and off the wards, helping to build confidence and strength.
A massive thank you to everyone who has made a donation or fundraised for the Great North Children’s Hospital Foundation this year, and of course in previous years too.
It is only with the amazing help of our supporters that we can continue to make a positive difference to the patients, staff and communities of Newcastle Hospitals.
