LIVERPOOL, England, October 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Alder Hey welcomes first patients inside new £250m world class healthcare campus
Young patients will take their first steps into the brand new Alder Hey Children's Hospital on Thursday 1st October. The day before the hospital begins to move into its new home, young fundraisers for Alder Hey Children's Charity will be given an exclusive tour by young people who helped design the new £250m state-of-the-art facility.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150930/272284 )
The new Alder Hey in the Park campus will feature a uniquely designed hospital alongside a dedicated children's research and innovation facility, creating a leading-edge centre for children's healthcare and research.
Europe's only hospital in a park, Alder Hey in the Park will provide the best possible environment and experience for patients and their families, along with ensuring the most effective and efficient care. Six large, colourful and spacious wards with outdoor play areas have been specifically designed to benefit patient's needs, patients will have improved access to specialist rehabilitation, while unique distraction, play and entertainment systems funded by Alder Hey Children's Charity will reduce anxiety and boredom during treatment. The new hospital will also feature charitably funded cutting-edge lifesaving equipment, including integrated operating theatres, an intra-operative 3T MRI scanner, CARTO system, Brain Lab navigation technology and an EOS imaging scanner.
Alongside the new hospital, Alder Hey has also built an innovative Research and Education Centre. The new facility will place Alder Hey and Liverpool as a national and international leader in the development of safer and more effective medicines for children and young people. The new facility will allow researchers and clinicians to work with industry to develop safer, better medicines and therapies for children to use in the NHS and throughout the world.
Alder Hey's young ambassadors, including Holly Kesteven age 13, have all helped raise money for the new Alder Hey and are among the first people to see the completed hospital for the first time.
Holly was rushed to Alder Hey for lifesaving emergency surgery after falling unwell last year. A scan had revealed she had a thalamic brain abscess, a rare condition that can be fatal if not treated quickly. Holly said: "I'm really excited to see what the hospital looks like. I've heard about some fun things including a chef on the ward and that you can play outside on the ward which is brilliant. My doctor also said he will have better equipment to help children like me get better."
The young fundraisers will be shown around by members of Alder Hey's Children and Young People's Design Group which is made up of current and former patients ages 10 to 22. They have been involved in designing the new hospital since an initial consultation back in 2009, where almost 1000 patients drew pictures and shared their views on what their new hospital should look like. They have had their say throughout the design process on everything from the colour of their room, to the artwork displayed in the new hospital and what their wards should look like.
Eleanor Brogan, a member of the Children and Young People's Design Group took part in the consultation back in 2009 and her picture was included in Alder Hey's initial brief to architects BDP. She said, "I was a patient here when I was 14 years old and I wanted the new hospital to have open spaces, greenery and natural light. When I drew my picture seven years ago, I didn't expect I would play such an important part in the design of the new Alder Hey. Since then I have been involved in many amazing design decisions and I'm really excited to show the facility to some of the young patients who will benefit from this fantastic new hospital."
Louise Shepherd, Chief Executive of Alder Hey said: "From the beginning we have strived to create a world-class healing environment that will benefit children and young people from across the UK and throughout the world. Our new 'Alder Hey in the Park' has been designed to meet the expectations of patients who wanted to be looked after in a state of the art facility that was fun, helped them recover quickly and most importantly didn't look like a hospital. This was a once in a life time opportunity to create something really special for our patients, families and staff; a dedicated healthcare facility providing the very best treatment and care to thousands of children and young people."
Further imagery and interviews available by contacting media@alderhey.nhs.uk
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