It’s all change on the second floor of Hull Royal Infirmary to enable hospital teams to deliver a better staff and patient experience.
Over the last six weeks, a team has been working in the tower block to create an improved space for therapy staff to work with children and young people, families and carers.
As well as delivering a dedicated and much more welcoming space for young visitors and families, the works have also led to the creation of a separate sensory room in which to provide complex rehabilitation. Existing gym facilities have been re-provided in a larger and more flexible space, and there’s even a dedicated area for pram parking too.
Thanks to the support of hospital charity, WISHH, a dedicated staff area has also been created for staff to take a break from their clinical and administrative duties to rest, eat and recharge.
Nicky Gilchrist, Chief Allied Health Professional (AHP) for NHS Humber Health Partnership says:
“Our staff work really hard to deliver the best care they can for children and young people, but in recent years, the paediatric environment in which they were delivering that care was starting to let them down; the service had really outgrown the space it was in, and it wasn’t always affording each family the privacy and dignity they deserve.
“So when we were approached by the capital team about the space and Amy shared the design ideas to create a new children’s therapies department on the second floor, we were absolutely thrilled.”
Sharon Murray, Head of Therapies says:
“We are hopeful that for the first time in a long time, our staff will feel they have a space to call their own. The environment is bright and welcoming, the reception desk is low level so we can welcome even the youngest of patients face-to-face, and we have rooms and facilities which will allow us to run clinics in spaces which are built with both our needs, and the needs of our patients, in mind.
“From a rest and recovery point of view, it’s fantastic to have the importance of staff health and wellbeing acknowledged with the creation of dedicated space for staff to rest and recharge, for quiet work, and even to change in and out of uniform. These are all things which staff really value and will help them go on to deliver a better experience for all our patients.”
Another thing that meant a lot to staff was the re-provision of a mural which featured in the old paediatric gym in a new format. Alex from hospital contractor John E Wrights was able to recreate the artwork that hung in the previous gym as a brightly coloured picture featuring animals, balloons and a rainbow. The donation means staff have been able to carry both the design and the sentiment attached to it with them into the new children’s gym.
Amy Lockyer, from the hospital’s capital development team, led the scheme as its project manager. She worked tirelessly with the hospital’s therapies and estates teams and external contractors to turn the project around in just six weeks. She says: “The previous environment for children’s therapies was far from ideal, and as we needed to expand the imaging service on the second floor, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to create a much-needed and improved space for children’s therapies too.
“When we were putting the final touches to our sensory room, we reached out to our contractors for help in kitting it out, and they were only too happy to help.
“Local contractors Johnson Construction and Unico Construction have each donated £1,500 towards equipment and we’ve had further donations of toys, equipment and services from Zenith, Mercury ITS, Southgate and Fairburns. Thanks to them, we now have an amazing area in which children with additional needs, or indeed any child who may be anxious and in need of a calm space, can go to decompress.
“The room features bubble tubes, an infinity mirror, optic light strands, colour changing lighting and whole range of fidget toys and gadgets to keep young patients occupied; the whole team is really pleased with how it’s turned out and the therapies staff can’t wait to see the reaction from their young patients.”
In addition to the newly renovated patient-facing areas, the work has created additional office /meeting space for clinical teams and administrative staff, two new changing areas affording more staff privacy, plus dedicated equipment storage.
Arguably, the jewel in the crown for therapies staff is the newly created staff room area at the rear of the hospital which enjoys panoramic views across to the MKM Stadium. Funded through WISHH, the Hull Hospitals charity, this space is highly flexible so it can just as easily accommodate a meeting with presentation facilities as it can a team lunch break. The charity has also funded the equipment within the room including brand new white goods to be able to heat meals, store food and make hot drinks, plus furniture and decorative artwork.
Carl Wheatley, Chief Executive of the WISHH Charity says: “We’re really pleased to support the new staff space for the therapies team as part of our wider Staff Rest Rooms project at Hull Royal Infirmary. Thanks to funding secured from national charity NHS Charities Together, the area will give staff somewhere comfortable to take a break, recharge and step away during busy shifts. Supporting staff wellbeing is hugely important, and by creating better spaces for teams to rest, we can also help improve the care and experience patients receive.”
The therapy teams started welcoming their first visitors into their new treatment area from 4 May.