Children brighten hospital ward during pandemic

Published: 30 April 2020

Young patients have decorated their hospital ward which has temporarily moved during the pandemic.

When Louisa Carey Ward was moved to another ward within Torbay Hospital, staff asked their patients and parents to help brighten up the bare walls to make it more like the children’s ward until they could return.

Chris Banks, of Louisa Carey Play Specialist Team, said: “We put out a plea for pictures from children to help brighten up our temporary ward for those who were staying in the hospital and we were amazed to receive more than 500.

“We also have lots of really lovely positive messages from all the children’s parents. It’s been very heart-warming and overwhelming.”

One of the pictures had a message by the young artist saying: ‘Thank you for all your hard work and how well you look after your patients. You are doing really well while handling this. I hope you like the picture I have drawn.’

The ward staff also used the pictures to decorate a dedicated area for children with COVID-19 in the hospital Day Surgery Unit.

Louisa Carey Ward has moved to enable the hospital to provide extra beds and support COVID-19 patients in designated wards separate from other areas in order to avoid spreading the virus.