Two treatment rooms in the Children’s Emergency Department (CED) at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital have been transformed thanks to funding from The Property Race Day.
The CED sees 30,000 young patients every year and is a busy, bustling department within the children’s hospital. As such, the treatment spaces need to be suitable for all sorts of patient’s needs and the needs of the health professionals treating them.
As the department has been running for nearly 20 years, some of the rooms within the department were in need of updating, especially in terms of how interactive sensory elements could be incorporated.
Using innovative technology to provide immersive distractions for patients can help create a calm, relaxed atmosphere, especially important for children managing painful procedures or struggling with additional sensory needs.
In turn, this also helps NHS staff deliver effective, often painful medical care, quickly and efficiently to the sickest and most distressed patients.
As our chair and Paediatric Consultant at the Alex, Dr Oli Rahman knows how important these spaces are for their work, “Having rooms that support children’s assessment, treatment and recovery can transform the care we provide. Improved spaces in hospitals save lives – it’s as simple as that.”
And now, thanks to support from The Property Race Day, and after careful consultation with doctors and nurses in the department, we have been able to create two incredible sensory treatment spaces that use tech and innovation to transform care for children.
The two treatment rooms have been kitted out a wide range of amazing new kit, all designed to help children to feel calmer and more in control during their visit.
There’s a wonderful portable sensory tower with solar projection which creates a kaleidoscope of colour, sound and touch, lighting up environments with a warm sensory glow.
Children can choose the lighting they want, enabling them to have some control over their environment and a sensory projector, bubble tube, and sensory fibre optics help stimulate vision and touch.
There are also interactive sensory projectors that project colourful interactive games, activities and quizzes onto the walls of each of the spaces.
Not only are these wonderful for young patients, but they also help doctors and nurses in their assessments, seeing how children interact and the movements they can and can’t do, without them even knowing they are being assessed.
They also provide vital distraction during potentially traumatizing treatments and medical interventions, helping children to manage pain and anxiety.
All of these amazing pieces of technology have turned previously drab, clinical spaces into rooms full of wonder and light, engaging imagination, and creating much more positive emotions.
Sophie Patching, Children’s CED Nurse, is delighted with the two updated rooms. She said, “The need for these sensory rooms is massive. We would love all our rooms to be like this, obviously, because any person with any level of communication or any needs come in and feel instantly calm and reassured.
“We see so many more children coming in needing this. And it is a need. It’s not a want. It’s a need for them, where they need to be away from the hustle and bustle of the department, the waiting room, and then we get the best out of the patients.
“We want to make sure that their experience is comfortable, that they’re looked after and their needs are met and we’re not just expecting them to wait in a waiting room where there’s lots of loud noises and lots of bright lights.
“But in here, we have this little haven for them as well as any child that we think would benefit from it. Whether they are a very normal neurotypical functioning child who’s stressed or if they’re very upset, bring them in one of these rooms and they’re instantly soothed, instantly calm, and we can actually make their light experience a lot better.”
This transformation has been made possible by funding from The Property Race Day, a fundraising race day for property industry professionals to network, enjoy thrilling races, and raise essential funds for child-based charities.
James Aumonier, The Property Race Day Chairman said, “The Property Race Day are honoured to support the creation of these wonderful new treatment rooms in the Children’s Emergency Department.
“Seeing the spaces come to life and hearing the positive impact they’re already having reminds us exactly why initiatives like this matter. We’re proud to have played a small part in helping create a more calming, supportive environment for children and families, during some of their most challenging moments.”
A huge thanks to The Property Race Day for helping us create spaces that will help reduce patient anxiety and positively impact the ability to diagnose and treat patients now and well into the future.
