Sleep boost for patients in Royal Preston Hospital's children's ward

Watching their noise on the Children’s Ward are Rebecca (right) with paediatric staff nurse Lauren Carus

Young patients on the Children’s Ward at the Royal Preston Hospital are getting help to sleep better.

The ward has been presented with a pair of SoundEars, wall-mounted noise monitors that are linked to a special control box that coverts sound into a visual picture that lights up when noise reaches a disruptive level so that staff know to try and lower the volume.

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Costing £962, the SoundEars were funded by MedEquip4Kids, a Manchester-based charity, which provides equipment beyond NHS resources to hospitals throughout the UK to improve the health and wellbeing of babies and children.

Rebecca Arestidou, the Trusts and Grants Fundraiser for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s charity team, applied for the SoundEars funding on behalf of the team’s Children’s Appeal.

She said: “Noise in hospitals can be an issue for both patients and staff.

“In 2020, a survey identified noise reduction as an area of improvement for the Children’s Ward at the Royal Preston Hospital, which has up to 30 young patients staying over nightly.”

Rebecca continued: “It is well documented that better sleep leads to reduced stress and faster recovery. A quieter environment on the ward should therefore help children get more sleep to get back home quicker. We are very grateful to MedEquip4Kids for funding this small but impactful project.”

Children’s Appeal

Working to a wish list of items drawn up by clinical staff, the charity team’s Children’s Appeal is aiming to bring about £1 million worth of improvements to all trust managed centres at which children are treated.

To watch a video explaining more about the Children’s Appeal, become involved or make a donation, go to www.lthcharity.org.uk/childrensappeal