Young patients from Yorkshire and beyond will be getting some of the best care in the world, thanks to world-class new hospital facilities at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
The new wing includes four world-class new wards that include award winning artwork, therapy rooms, a patient dining room, a parent relaxation room, an adolescent hang out room and has a Play Tower right at its heart, which have all been sponsored by some very generous individuals and organisations.
All 72 new beds have a fold out bed next to them, giving parents a comfortable place to stay with their child. In addition, many patients will get private rooms with en-suite bathrooms.
Even before opening, the new wing has already won two awards – one from Design Week and one from Building Better Healthcare, with help from Artfelt, The Children’s Hospital Charity arts programme.
Artfelt worked with designer Morag Myerscough devising four colourways from bright to calm across all the bedrooms. This project was 2 years in the making and involved some technical challenges – using standard hospital materials in a new way.
John Somers, Chief Executive, said: “Our new wards are incredible. The space, privacy and facilities provided for patients are outstanding and will make a massive difference for the families we see at Sheffield Children’s.
“The opening of these wards matches our world-class care with world-class facilities.”
The new building includes a new main entrance and a new Outpatient Department, both of which opened at the end of 2016. A new Outpatients Pharmacy run by Rowlands opened in February this year and a Costa coffee shop and a retail area will be opening shortly.
Over £10million of the entire scheme was raised by The Children’s Hospital Charity with many generous supporters and companies sponsoring bedrooms, treatment and therapy rooms as well as the huge Play Tower which was built to enable more play to be included for inpatient stays at the hospital. The charity has also funded brand new patient entertainment systems for each of the new beds.
The Children’s Hospital Charity Director, David Vernon-Edwards said: “We are so thankful to the many generous supporters that have helped us to raise this amount of money for the region’s biggest charitably supported healthcare project. We are delighted that together we’ve been able to provide cutting-edge facilities, above and beyond standard NHS provision, for children from all across the UK and beyond.”
Graham Royle, CEO of GRI Group who has match-funded two Christmas appeals for The Children’s Hospital Charity to help bring the Play Tower to the new wing, said: “The Children’s Hospital Charity is renowned for funding highly specialised technology for improving patients’ treatment but less well known for its hugely important investments in patients’ wellbeing.
“It is believed that relieving stress aids recovery, so the new play tower in the new of the hospital has massive medical benefits, as well as providing the children with lots of fun.”
