Royal Albert Edward Infirmary - Overnight Chairs x10

We are currently working with the Children’s Unit at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary to help provide chair beds to allow parents to stay next to their child’s bed during an overnight stay on the Surgical Ward.

Medical staff feel it is very important that every child has the opportunity to have a parent or carer with them when staying overnight in hospital. A stay in hospital can be a traumatic experience for anyone, and for a child being separated from family can add to that. For parents too the experience is very stressful; they are often forced to sleep overnight on upright chairs next to the child’s bed. This project will improve the comfort of parents and carers at a very stressful time, and as a result allow the whole family to focus on the child’s recovery.

The beds that the ward have chosen have the added advantage that during the day they convert to comfortable arm chairs, to give parents a comfortable seat in which to nurse small babies, or to sit with their child. Another advantage is that when not in use as beds, they do not need to be stored away. The ward at Wigan is very small and there is very limited storage space.

Facilities such as this do not fit in to NHS statutory funding, and so without the support of charitable organisations, there is no possibility of being able to provide these beds. Each bed costs £599, and ten are required with a total cost of £5,990.