Royal Preston Hospital children’s ward receives new ‘blue skies’ ceiling from construction firm

The new LED ceiling tiles within the children’s ward Pic: Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Patients on the children’s ward at Royal Preston Hospital know that blue skies are just a blink away after construction company DD Porter has footed the £30,000 bill for new LED ceiling panels.

Seven of the ward’s bays have now been fitted with the LED picture ceiling panels, most of which feature summer skies filled with soaring kites, bobbing balloons or floating rainbow umbrellas. All therapeutic designs to induce a sense of calm.

Lucy Clark, a fundraiser with Lancashire Teaching Hospital’s charity team, said: “There’s lots of documented evidence, which shows that patients of all ages, able to focus on a calming image that subtly changes, are less anxious and need less pain relief.”

“We have had ceiling panels fitted in some of the treatment rooms in Children’s Outpatients and there are ceiling panels in the radiotherapy suites at Rosemere Cancer Centre. We have wanted to fit them on the Children’s Ward for some time to provide as tranquil an environment as possible to benefit our youngest patients and their parents and carers. We’re therefore very grateful to DD Porter for enabling us to have now done so.”

At a cost of £30,000, the panels were on a Children’s Fund wish list. But the construction company, who had already been working at the hospital, agreed to finance the whole thing and install them.

Andy Webb, pre-construction director for DD Porter, said: “As a company, our ethos is to give back to the communities in which we work. When we learned of the Children’s Fund ceiling panel project, we immediately realised the value of it in terms of the difference it would make to the well-being of the children on the ward and anything that makes a child in hospital feel that bit better is also a benefit to their parents, carers and the medical staff looking after them.”

Play team members (from left) Pamela O’Brien and Karen Seed, matron Tracy Denny, ward manager Jess Wolstenholme, head of charities Dan Hill, estates senior project manager Fayyaz Patel, DD Porter pre construction director Andy Webb and charity team fundraiser Lucy Clark Pic: Lancashire Teaching Hospitals charity

To find out more, become involved or make a donation to the Children’s Fund, go to the children’s appeal fund site.

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