Dazzling design and care from experts to help young

Jul 7 2009 by Karen Wilson, The Journal

THE Great North Children’s Hospital (GNCH) is due to open its doors later this year. The GNCH will herald a new era in healthcare for children, young people and their families from over the North of England.

The copper-clad building will be an advanced centre of international excellence for children’s care, bringing together virtually all Newcastle’s groundbreaking children’s units under one roof.

It will provide everything a sick child might need in an environment tailored to the needs of children, teenagers, their families and staff.

This achievement has been a great ambition in Newcastle for many years and will ensure safe, rapid and responsive care for every acutely ill and injured child who comes here.

The GNCH will provide the most modern children’s healthcare facilities in the UK.

It will offer an unparalleled breadth of expertise in children’s health, providing a wider range of specialist services and general paediatric care than any other hospital outside London.

This includes fully integrated community care, which means that children with straightforward conditions will receive as much of their care as possible closer to their own home while those with more serious or complex conditions will be looked after at the GNCH, where they will receive the expert care and treatment they need.

The GNCH will have its own A&E department, designed for children; a day case surgery unit where all the very latest facilities will be on hand and one of the very best children’s cancer centres in Europe – not to mention a world-leading “bubble unit” which treats children with immune system problems from all over the UK.

Two laparoscopic theatres will allow Newcastle’s paediatric surgeons to carry out keyhole surgery. This minimally invasive surgery involves tiny incisions and narrow instruments rather than the large cuts and large instruments used in traditional open surgery.

This approach means patients recover much more quickly with a shorter hospital stay and a reduced risk of complications.

Professor Andrew Cant, Clinical Director for Children’s Services, Director of the Children’s Bone Marrow Transplant Unit and president of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases, said: “Bringing together nearly all our children’s services will offer a huge array of benefits for children, teenagers and their families – not only almost no travelling between hospital sites, but increased opportunities for sharing knowledge and skills, rapid referral between clinicians and greater networking between specialist and general care teams – all providing an excellent learning environment leading to better and better clinical outcomes for children.”

With research showing that children see hospital as more boring than scary, this landmark building is designed to feel as far removed from a traditional hospital as possible.

It will provide a bright, colourful environment, brought to life with a host of innovative facilities to enhance the experience of children and their families during what can be a very distressing time.

Capable of accommodating 245 children, three-quarters of all bedrooms will allow single occupancy with en suite facilities and guest beds so parents can rest comfortably with their child when they are most needed.

The rooftop will have a “penthouse” for teenage cancer patients while the core of the building will house a range of exciting leisure activities, including an atrium, outside courtyard, play area and a 50-seat cinema where children can relax and view the latest blockbusters.

To enhance the environment for children, a £1m charitable appeal, the Great North Children’s Hospital Appeal, was recently launched to help provide a range of exciting new facilities to complement those planned by the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The appeal is a partnership of eight charities and the proposed extra services and facilities will make the hospital even more comfortable and stimulating for children of all ages.

Thoughtful details will include interactive floor and wall projection systems, aimed at stimulating young people, fun and exciting furnishings that children will find appealing and distract them from their situation and many other amazing installations to make a positive impact on the recovery of children in hospital.

Three-year-old Jamie Davies, of North Shields, has been a regular patient at the Newcastle Hospitals with a series of illnesses, including pneumonia, septicaemia and an abscess on a lung.

His dad Craig said: “I think having one place where parents know what to expect when they arrive and feeling safe in the knowledge that their child will receive the best possible care is vital.

“The experience of taking a sick child to hospital is a really harrowing one. It is important for the parents to feel relaxed and positive as kids pick up on this.

“So, a space that is designed with this in mind will make a huge difference in terms of reducing emotional stress.”