A visit to the children’s hospital can be scary, regardless of how old you are. Not knowing what to expect, or being frightened of a painful procedure, can all lead to feeling like it’s not a nice place to have to go.
But being given a special treat at the end of a visit to say well done can really help to make the experience so much better. It can help re-enforce positive feelings and mean that future visits can feel just that little bit easier.
These are just some of the reasons why we funded these toy boxes and with the support of the Play Team at the hospital, we will continue to manage the contents and make sure there are always enough treats for everyone.
Angela Clarke, Clinical Lead Nurse Specialist in the Nuclear Medicine department who also have a toy box for their younger patients, explained why they made such a difference to their team.
She said, “It is important that we make the child’s experience as positive as possible as this will help them with their relationship with hospitals and their treatment throughout their lives.
“This is where the treat box comes in. The joy on the child’s face when they get to choose a gift makes their tears disappear and their visit more of a positive experience”
This is just one of the projects that we fund to help children’s experience of visiting hospital as good as it can be. To read more, just visit our Projects pages here.
