Celebrating Play in Hospital Week

This week we are celebrating Play in Hospital Week (9th - 15th October 2023), an annual awareness week showcasing the importance of providing the opportunity, space and time for play to children in hospitals.

Our Children’s Ward also has a fully stocked playroom that children can visit with everything from baby toys to DVDs and games consoles for older adolescents.

Anna, one of the Children’s Ward Managers, said, “It’s great to have Play Specialists in hospital. We really want to focus on making an admission to hospital as positive of an experience as possible for children and their families.”

“We use our Play Specialists a lot in normalising the hospital experience through play.”

Starlight is the national charity for children’s play in healthcare. They promote that play is not a choice, it’s crucial to the health and wellbeing of children. 

“Play in hospital enables children and young people to be happier, less stressed and fearful. This in turn helps them build up their resilience and also helps them cope with treatment.” – Starlight.

For more information about Play in Hospital Week, visit Starlight’s website.