Providing a peaceful space for young people and families in Children’s ED
Thanks to our supporters, we’ve been able to help provide a much-needed quiet space in the busy Children’s Emergency Department (ED) at the Queen’s Medical Centre.
We granted £31,655 for the new patient and visitor welfare room – named the Willow Room – which provides a safe and peaceful space for sensitive conversations.
Janice Morgan, Children’s ED Matron, explained: “We’ve seen quite an increase in children and young people needing mental health support over recent years, and they were previously having to be seen in quite clinical and busy spaces.
“So, we had the idea of creating a room where we could speak to children and young people about their mental health in a non-clinical area, in a calming environment that’s separate from the rest of the busy department.”
The Shared Governance team – which is a group of frontline staff who come together in a collaborative way, to make decisions and improvements in the area they serve – helped Janice get the project off the ground, and applied to Nottingham Hospitals Charity for funding.
A clinical room, which was rarely used due to it being set away from the main department, was identified as a suitable space. Funding from the charity helped to provide comfortable furniture and calming artwork for the new room.
Janice said: “I’m really happy with how it looks. The artwork is amazing, and the colour of the furniture is very calming.
“The room has only been open for a week and has already been used a few times already for children and young people’s mental health assessments, and I think that it’s a much nicer environment for them, and encourages them to open up more.
“We also intend to use the room for difficult conversations with families. Sometimes we might have a really poorly child in our care, or need to break bad news to parents, so this room will be a space for those difficult conversations, away from the clinical environment and away from their child’s bedside.”
The Willow Room also has facilities for making hot drinks, which are not allowed in the main Children’s ED area due to the risk of burns. It means families going through a difficult experience can step away from the clinical environment for a short while, make a hot drink, and gather their thoughts.
Janice said: “We’re so grateful to everyone who made this project possible – including everyone who has donated to Nottingham Hospitals Charity, and the Shared Governance team for getting this idea off the ground. We simply couldn’t have funded this room without the charity’s support.
“It’s so nice to see it finally come to fruition – it will be so much better for our patients and their families.”