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Family fundraise to create hospital quiet room

Georgia EadieWest of England
News imageBBC A young boy is sitting between his mum and dad. The boy has short brown hair and is wearing a blue t-shirt. He is staring at the camera. His mum has dark framed glasses on and blonde short hair. She is wearing a large scarf and smiling at the camera. The boy's dad is sitting on his left and is wearing a cream knitted jumper, he has grey spikey hair. BBC
Ben spent a week at the Royal United Hospitals in Bath after his type 1 diabetes diagnosis

The parents of a seven-year-old boy who found his stay on a children's hospital ward "overwhelming" are fundraising for a new quiet room.

Ben, from Wells in Somerset, spent a week at the Royal United Hospitals (RUH) in Bath after he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in April.

Ben's family is aiming to raise £5,000 towards the development of a de-escalation room, which his mother Janey said would be "a really good addition to the hospital".

The RUH said it was dealing with more children and young people experiencing a mental health crisis and the room would offer a private calm space.

The room is expected to include soft furnishings, low-stimulation lighting and sensory-friendly features.

Janey said when Ben had to go through "invasive procedures which were obviously quite overwhelming, there wasn't that many places to go to get away from other people".

Ben's father David is preparing to run the London marathon and the Bath Half marathon to raise money to adapt an unused space at the hospital.

He said there is a "real need" for a "place where children can relax, where you can have meaningful conversations".

"It would have made our experience and Benjamin's experience at the hospital a whole lot easier," he added.

News imageA woman in a nurses uniform is looking at the camera. She has red hair and red framed glasses. She is wearing a yellow name badge with "Charlotte" written on it.
Charlotte Nicol, lead nurse for children and young people at the RUH, said they need a calm space

Charlotte Nicol, lead nurse for children and young people at the RUH, said they were seeing "increasing numbers of young people coming to us in distressed states".

She said at least "two patients a day are admitted with mental health illnesses".

Ms Nicol added the de-escalation room would be an "environment where they can take a break from the busy wards, which are noisy and can be quite chaotic" and go to a space which will be "calm and relaxing".

She said the room will help children "regulate their behaviours and help relieve some of their distress".

News imageA woman is smiling at the camera. She has short dark hair and is wearing a beige jumper. She has a navy blue lanyard around her neck which has "RUHX" written on it.
Rhyannon Boyd is from the RUHX charity which is also raising money for the quiet room

Along with Ben's family, the hospital's charity, RUHX, is also fundraising to create the new space.

The charity wants to raise £50,000 as part of its Christmas campaign.

Rhyannon Boyd, associate director of the charity, said they want to "make sure it's a really extraordinary room for our young patients".

The charity hopes the room will be ready to use next spring.

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