DREN’S HOS HIL PI C T L
ARITY CH AL
THE BR IST O
Life Support
Your 2019 Impact Report
Welcome Nicola Masters, Director The Grand Appeal and Cots for Tots
Bristol Children’s Hospital and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at St Michael’s Hospital sit at the very heart of children’s healthcare in the South West. Covering the single largest catchment area of any children’s hospital in England, many of the brave young patients we support often have to travel hundreds of miles - from Cornwall, Devon, South Wales and Wiltshire - for the specialist treatment they need.
From the very moment these babies, children and young adults are admitted to hospital, The Grand Appeal and Cots for Tots are here for them. We’re here for the families too, who find themselves – often unexpectedly – in one of the scariest situations a parent or carer can go through. It’s because of you, and so many others like you, that we’re able to offer such a comprehensive level of support to more patients and families than ever before. That’s why I wanted to share our new impact report, ‘Life Support’, with you. To tell you about some of the amazing ways that you are helping the hospital’s young patients and their families. From pioneering research, innovation and life-saving equipment, to family accommodation and specialist support staff, we provide care, support and a lifeline to enable a family to cope with what lies ahead, whatever the outcome. Of course, this issue covers just a small number of the improvements and services that are happening across the hospital and NICU. For more regular updates, and to find out more about our latest family accommodation appeal, sign up to our enews via our website, www.grandappeal.org.uk/newsletter Thank you for being a treasured part of our family of supporters. We look forward to making an impact on even more young lives, together.
Nicola
l
Bristol Children’s Hospita
CATCHMENT AREA
COVERING
10,000 SQUARE MILES
1 MILLION CHILDREN
74 LEADING SPECIALITIES 1,380 15 9 THEATRES STAFF
WARDS
OPERATING
A PLACE TO STAY Being miles from home and having a child in hospital can be incredibly stressful. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, our two family accommodation houses are just metres from the hospital and the unit. Both are run by our House Manager Anne and House Keeper Jan, two friendly faces in uncertain times. Thanks to you, we’re here for families when they need us most.
Cots for Tots House Cots for Tots House gives parents and siblings a free, private and comforting space of their own for as long as they need. Over 1,300 families have called this house their home since it opened in 2012, with our longest resident staying for 11 months. Close enough to be by their little one in just minutes, Cots for Tots House offers precious peace of mind to parents going through one of the toughest times of their lives. Gemma and Naomi’s little girl Phoebe was born with her liver outside of her body. Naomi travelled from their home in Cornwall to be induced at St Michael’s Hospital, so Phoebe could access the specialist life-saving surgery she needed as soon as she was born. Your donations mean Gemma and Naomi had somewhere to stay, far from home. It was only a short hour after Phoebe had been born, that the lovely Anne from Cots for Tots was introduced to Naomi and me. She secured us a room at their home-from-home, which made us feel a bit more comfortable while Phoebe got the medical attention she needed. Sleeping in a bed, rather than a hospital chair, was the self-care I needed to be able to recharge and be fighting fit to help Naomi and Phoebe in the days after her birth.
Gemma, Phoebe’s mum
Paul’s House Paul’s House is our dedicated accommodation for families of patients in Bristol Children’s Hospital. With eight en-suite rooms, kitchen facilities and a laundry, Paul’s House is home to the families of patients undergoing major or prolonged treatment. Since we opened our second home-from-home in 2018, we have welcomed 200 families from across the South West, South Wales and even one family from across the Atlantic.
Put simply, your support is keeping families together every single day. When your child is in critical care, the last thing on your mind is, ‘where am I going stay?’ Thanks to your donations, we can take care of that for parents, meaning they can concentrate all their energy on their children and pop across the road to be by their side at a moment’s notice.
Anne, House Manager
With more families coming from far and wide than ever before, there has never been a greater need to build more family accommodation. Thanks to you, we are refurbishing a third house, just minutes from both the hospital and NICU. This latest home-from-home will have up to nine en-suite rooms, kitchen and laundry facilities – meaning parents don’t have to think about anything but their little one in their time of need.
A HELPING HAND Financial pressures, childcare worries and time off work, coupled with the emotional burden of supporting your sick child, can leave families feeling isolated and lost. With your support, we’re there for families to ensure that no parent or carer is left feeling alone.
Family Support Programme Over the past year, our Family Support Workers have worked with over 1,000 families, helping them to cope with the pressures and complexities that come with having a child in hospital, and providing practical and dedicated advice to help them move forward. We’re now expanding this vital programme, welcoming a second member to the team to support even more families through their child’s treatment.
Max
Bringing patients together Growing up is never easy, but imagine how difficult it can be when you have to spend your childhood in and out of hospital. We support former and current patients and their families through a whole range of events and support groups, both in the hospital and the community.
Keeping in touch Having a baby in intensive care sometimes means mums and dads are often away from home for days at a time. When they do go home, they experience a considerable amount of separation anxiety and stress. To ease this, we work with video messaging platform vCreate, to provide special devices for nurses to send video updates to parents to maintain the connection between parent and baby, even when they’re away from the unit.
I can’t overstate the difference that vCreate makes for the families I work with every day. Seeing your baby in critical care is incredibly scary for parents, even more so when you are forced to leave them to go to work or look after other children. Now my colleagues and I can record regular clips of their baby’s progress, which helps to minimise this separation anxiety.
Louise Gould, NICU sister
Disability Fun Day, brittle bone meet ups and the National Transplant Games are just a handful of events where we give patients the opportunity to get to know other children with similar experiences, take part in events in the community and, most importantly, don’t miss out on being a kid!
A PIONEERING WAY FORWARD As a charity, our mission is simple: help Bristol Children’s Hospital and the NICU stay ahead of the curve; find new ways to prevent, treat and cure illnesses; and ultimately improve care for children who will require treatment in years to come. The innovation, equipment and research we invest in today will give babies and children across the country the best chance tomorrow.
3D Bio Printing In early 2019, The Grand Appeal’s 3D BioPrinting Service began revolutionising major operations for the 400 babies, children and young adults who need heart surgery every year. By printing exact copies of patients’ hearts, surgeons can plan and prepare for each operation and crucially, help patients and families better understand very complicated procedures. In the future, we’ll be able to ‘bio-print’ using patients’ stem cells, dramatically decreasing the number of operations a young patient needs. It’s our hope that in the years to come, babies and children with other serious conditions will benefit from our bio-printing service too. This pioneering facility is one of the first of its kind in the UK and has only been made possible with your support.
Transporting sick children and babies We strive to make sure every baby and child cared for by the hospital and the unit has the very best chance at life. It’s up to the Neonatal Emergency Stabilisation and Transfer (NEST) team and the Wales and West Acute Transport for Children (WATCh) team to safely transport critically ill children and babies between intensive care units across the region with your support. Amelia Last year, the specialist team covered tens of thousands of miles, making transfers from as far as Cornwall, South Wales and Wiltshire.
Research in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit
©Freepik
The Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), is the beating heart of the children’s hospital. It’s where the South West’s most critically ill babies and children are treated, and it’s also where some of the country’s most exciting discoveries and developments in children’s healthcare are taking place. We recently welcomed two new healthcare experts to The Grand Appeal family: two PICU research nurses to help bring about life-saving treatments for sick babies and children across the country.
Keeping twins and triplets together Thanks to money raised by you, we have provided a new transport incubator for the NEST team to move twins together, safely and securely. With a huge reduction in transfer times and journeys, the pioneering equipment means it is one less burden for parents of premature or poorly twins or triplets from across Bristol and the South West to think about.
Ava, Lacey & Blakely
JOINING FORCES TO SAVE A LIFE
Braham
Anna and her husband Michael travelled thousands of miles from their home in Los Angeles for a family holiday in the UK. Just days before they were due to fly home, their worst nightmare became a reality when their 11-year-old son, Braham,t fell 200 feet into a ravine and suffered a huge list of injuries, including a shattered hip, broken rib cage and extensive internal bleeding. Braham was airlifted to Derriford Hospital, before being transferred to Bristol Children’s Hospital. Against all odds, Braham’s life was saved thanks to all of the specialist teams at Bristol Children’s Hospital, which make it a designated Major Trauma Centre for the one million babies, children and teenagers who call the South West home.
Braham’s trauma was serious and widespread. As soon as we arrived at Bristol Children’s Hospital, it was all hands on deck. Dozens of staff - who I know now as the Major Trauma Team - came from all directions to my son’s aid. As Braham had suffered a number of critical injuries, Major Trauma leads who were each specialists in their field - Neurosurgery, Emergency Medicine, Cardiac, Orthopedic, you name it - came to treat Braham as quickly as possible and ultimately save his life. But what could have been a frantic scene full of panic, wasn’t. Everyone had their job, and the team moved together in a seamless operation. It was then that I knew my son was in the best possible hands. A year on and we are back home. Braham has made tremendous progress and is continuing to thrive. His broken bones have healed beautifully and, after six months, he was out of his wheelchair and is now taking part in sports. He can’t wait to come back and visit Bristol again. And me? I can’t express how thankful I am for Bristol Children’s Hospital. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think about the staff that cared for Braham and the incredible support we were given by The Grand Appeal thousands of miles away from home. The work it does is truly astonishing, and I will be forever grateful to its staff for saving my boy.
Anna, Braham’s mum
A child-friendly environment Step into the hospital and you instantly know it was designed with children in mind: fun, colourful artwork adorns the walls, nurses’ stations look like trains and boats, and outside, you’ll find our iconic ‘Lollipop’ sculpture – a landmark icon for the hospital and the city of Bristol. Elsewhere in the hospital and the unit, a huge group of specialists – many funded by you – strive each and every day to bring a smile to the faces of the patients and parents we care for.
Arts, crafts and interactive play From immersive theatre sessions and painting workshops to interactive, imaginative storytelling, our extensive Arts Programme aims to ease the stresses and fears that come with daily hospital life for brave patients and their brothers and sisters. At the helm is our Arts Coordinator, Lynne, who many of you may know from her 17 years as Play Centre Manager at the children’s hospital!
Gracie
Music therapy and sensory play Children experience lots of difficult feelings while they are in hospital, particularly during a long stay. Our music therapists and sensory play practitioners are on hand to help patients with these complex emotions and aid their recovery. Claire and Karen, our two passionate performers, have delivered over 1,000 music therapy sessions at patients’ bedsides. Working alongside them is our Sensory Play Practitioner, Marius, who helps children with their development by exploring an array of sights, sounds and surfaces.
James
Kara
k n a h T y ou!
FOLLOW US! WANT TO GET IN TOUCH? hello@grandappeal.org.uk www.grandappeal.org.uk www.cotsfortots.org.uk 30-32 Upper Maudlin Street Bristol BS2 8DJ 0117 927 3888
/TheGrandAppeal /CotsForTotsAppeal @thegrandappeal @CotsForTots @thegrandappeal To hear more about the difference you’re making, sign up to our enews www.grandappeal.org.uk/newsletter ®The Grand Appeal & Cots for Tots®. Registered charity 1043603. ©&™ Aardman Animations Ltd 2019. All rights reserved.