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Allergy passport launched at Children’s Hospital Leeds Children’s Hospital has launched a new interactive “allergy passport” to help improve the experience for young people attending its allergy clinics. The Allergy Adventures Passport Pack has been specially designed to help parents and carers explain to children what will happen on the day of their visit to the allergy clinic, thereby helping to reduce anxiety levels. It also helps the medical team to introduce an element of fun into the clinic and is a useful distraction during painful procedures.
fantastic The winners on the evening were:
Around 2000 children and young people from across West Yorkshire attend the allergy clinics at Leeds Children’s Hospital annually. There are 10 clinics every week, supported by a small team of specialist nurses and consultants. Brenda deWitt, Children’s Allergy and Immunology Nurse Specialist at the Children’s Hospital, said: “We are really thrilled to be rolling out the new passport across our clinics and hope it will make a big difference to the experience of young patients and help reduce anxiety for both children and their parents.
“We know that for many children coming to hospital can be quite a scary experience, and we want to make a visit more bearable and the patient journey through the clinic more fun. The passports are colourful and really well designed, and youngsters will be able to see where they are going and collect a passport stamp at each stage as well as a certificate at the end. “The passport also introduces ‘allergy friends’ - who also suffer from allergies - to help guide the children through the various parts of the day and help show them that they are not alone and there are many different allergies young people can have.” The allergy passport is the brainchild of Hailey Phillips from Allergy Adventures, who has been gradually introducing it in hospitals across the UK. She explained: “My aim is to help children with food allergies to have the Allergy Adventures’ Passport Pack launched in Leeds Children’s Hospital is fantastic. It’s great to know this initiative will not only help ease children’s anxiety but give them something fun to focus on during their allergy appointments.”
Patient Engagement - Dr Chris Bulmer - Psychology Unsung Hero - Alan Bass - Physiotherapy Team of the Year - Physiotherapy in Elderly Medicine - Julie Isaac / Julie Roberts / Michelle Thompson Service Improvement - Adam Clayton, Chaplaincy Clinician of the Year - Emma Noble Support Worker of the Year - John Westmoreland Collaborative Working - Tina Heath - OT Quality and Safety - Stroke SLT Team - Clair Hick / Jennifer Thomson / Helen McDonald Researcher of the Year - Begonya Alcacer-Pitcarcy, Podiatry Research and Audit - Denise Ross, Physiotherapy Research Group Leader of the Year - Lynn George Administrator of the Year - Suzanne Elmslie
Shown with the new passports are (back row l-r) Dr Aida Semic-Jusufagic , Roisin O’Kane and Dr Donald Hodge; (front row l-r) Brenda deWitt, Hailey Phillips and Rachel Oller
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