9th March 2000
Tylers Green, Bucks
Dear Jackie,
Thank you for looking after Joanne when she came in last Monday to have a stone taken out of her ear. I really appreciated your help with helping her to have confidence and not be afraid of the anaesthetic. She was not afraid or upset after the operation- it was a great help using the lip balm ion the face mask
She really enjoyed the playroom and all the different activities you had to offer. I thought it would be difficult to keep her mind off not eating from 9am until the operation at 4pm. But you made it very easy for both of us.
Please thank all the staff on 245 for making it a less traumatic situation. Thanks also to the doctors and anaesthetists for their patience and understanding.
Ali Banham
Walk into Ward 24 and what you notice first (and sets the tone for a hospital stay) is the playroom. In fact, as we walked in, my two year old son was totally entranced looking at the ceiling, which was decorated with lots of pieces of fruit, cheese, ice cream cones, each with a hole in it after a very hungry caterpillar had eaten its way through. Brilliantly coloured puffer fish also hung from the ceiling. The playroom itself caters for children from tiny to tall, from rattles to an electronic organ. From toys cars and garages to video games and of course, there’s plenty of drawing paper and crayons.
We were at the hospital for a pre-clerking session prior to coming in to hospital for an operation. Apart from protesting at being weighed (most probably because he was away from the playroom for 2 minutes), this introduction to the hospital was not only a great success for my little one but also for me. For him there were lots of different types of toys to play with and hands to help. For me. Not only was I able to meet with c children’s services nurse and a doctor from the surgical team, but I also met Jackie Ellis, Senior Hospital Play Specialist. She started by explaining what would happen before the operation and immediately afterwards.
Using photographs, reassuring words and showing me around the various facilities of the playroom and ward, Jackie patiently responded to each of my many questions and also made it clear when the nurse or doctor would be better able to answer a particular query.
Later, on the operation day itself, it was the playroom leader who cleverly distracted my son while applying numbing cream to the back of his hands. During the one week stay, the playroom staff had toys, videos and practical suggestions to entertain my bed bound 2 year old.
In summary, the playroom staff provided straight forward and practical advice and gave informative responses which were always delivered in a confident but reassuring and caring manner.