Taking the fear out of treatment

ON a sweltering May afternoon, the last place any child wants to be is in a hospital bed. Even being at school would be preferable.

Hospitals are daunting places for people of all ages, but for children, who often don't understand what's wrong with them, they can be terrifying.

For the staff at The Royal's Riverbank Children's Ward putting their young patients at ease is as important as giving them the correct treatment.

Luckily, the ward is blessed with a team of happy, caring staff, which does its best to create a good atmosphere and take the children's minds off their problems.

The ward caters for children aged up to 16, and contains 35 beds. It takes youngsters with a wide range of medical problems, and deals with areas such as day surgery, orthopaedics and dental treatment.

It's decorated in child-friendly bright colours, and each bed comes with every child's best friend - a television.

There are also up-to-date computers, a play room and a sensory room, a great package that make some children reluctant to go home.

The sensory room is frequently used by children with special needs, who find it fascinating and stimulating, but is also visited by children of all ages and abilities.

"Some older children like to go in there just to chill out," says play specialist Paula Thomas. "They can play music and it helps them to relax."

It's equipped with fibre optics, bean bags, fairy lights, wind chimes, a projector and a music system, to stimulate every sense.

Play is an increasingly important part of a child's treatment, and Miss Thomas joined the ward last year to help children understand what's happening to them.

"It's all about explaining procedures to children," she says. "I try to explain everything that might to happen to them while they're in hospital.

"I use photos, and the actual equipment that's going to be used, to try to give them a sense of control about what's happening to them."

Miss Thomas explains the complicated medical procedures in a way that children understand, usually through play, or with her hand puppet, Tommy.

"It allows them to express any fears they might have, and they often ask what's going to happen to them and if it will hurt."

She finds that honesty is the best policy when answering their questions.

"If it's going to hurt, I tell them it will," she says. "Otherwise, you lose their trust."

Miss Thomas has something of a free role on the ward, and is responsible for spreading happiness throughout the building with fun and games.

"It's very rewarding," says the 22-year-old. "It's great when a child comes in and they're anxious, and I talk to them and they're happy when they go off for treatment.

"You need a lot of patience. If you've got a child who comes in who's really anxious and screaming, you've got to get through to them and calm them down.

"You need to be lively and bubbly."

One patient who was not causing Miss Thomas any problems was Zach Rossor, a 12-year-old from Kidderminster whose short-cut to a friend's house ended up taking him to Worcester.

"He was playing with a friend yesterday afternoon," explains Zach's mum, Nicola Morris.

"He was taking a short cut to his friend's house, and he jumped over an iron fence, but didn't manage to clear it."

He caught his thigh on the fence and was cut to the bone. The youngster was brought to The Royal and underwent an operation the following day.

Zach was recovering in one of the ward's quiet, four-bed rooms an hour after his operation when I visited, and was making very little fuss.

"He's had it all cleaned and sewn up, and he's had stitches that don't need to be taken out," says Mrs Morris.

"The hospital has been really nice - he doesn't want to go home! The nurses have been lovely.

"Zach has a phone by his bed, so I could phone him and speak to him last night. I could get straight through to him."

Ward manager Georgina Wilmot is responsible for keeping the ward's 40 staff happy, as well as looking after the patients.

She has worked with children for the past 15 years, and says she enjoys everything about it.

"It's a lot different to working with adults," she says. "You have the whole family involved, and you never know what's going to be coming through the door next."

Parents can often need just as much attention as the young patients.

"Parents want to know what you are doing straight away, and why you are doing it," says Mrs Wilmot.

"We tell them everything that's going on all the time."

Tomorrow: Meeting the specialist nurses and exploring day case surgery.

Hospital radio's tuned in

THIS must be the only radio service where you can have an aria by Tosca followed by Meatloaf."

Welcome to the world of Choice, the radio station for Worcestershire Royal.

Its motto is "Take it easy", and most of its listeners don't have much choice but to comply.

I visit the studio at 3.40pm on a Tuesday, as long-serving DJ Tony Deakin is nearing the end of his two-hour "T in the Afternoon" show.

It's meant to be a chance for patients to have requests played, but today none have been forthcoming.

Undeterred, Tony keeps the music flowing and chips in every so often, "just to let them know I'm still here".

"The last 15 minutes have been 50s and 60s," he tells the listeners in his soothing tones. "It brings back memories of my national service, when this number by Guy Mitchell was on everyone's lips."

The former Lea and Perrins employee puts the lack of requests down to "Nothankyou-itis", a disease that starts at the front of the ward and spreads to the back.

"If the first person on the ward says they don't want a request, then the rest don't want one either," he says. "But if they say they want one, then they all do."

Tony has been cheering up patients in Worcester for 20 years, along with his wife Barbara, after responding to an appeal in the Evening News.

They have had to get to grips with the high-tech system in the new studio, located in the Aconbury East ward on the Worcestershire Royal site.

Tony seems to be at ease with the equipment, but misses the old days.

"It's all switches now," he complains. "Before, you had the challenge between you and the vinyl records, and you had to find the right groove.

"But the reception is so much better and clearer. There's no comparison."

Although he isn't paid, Tony takes his DJ-ing seriously.

"We record every programme, so we can play them again at home and see what mistakes we've made," he says.

"We sometimes have a patient who swears that we didn't play his request, but usually they have just fallen asleep."

However, requests are taken very seriously and ignoring the wishes of the listeners is a sackable offence.

"If you're found not to be playing requests, like playing Toploader instead of The King and I, you have to go before the committee," says Tony.

Guy Mitchell is followed seamlessly by Phil Collins' Groovy Kind of Love, as the show nears its conclusion.

"Now, it's A Walk in the Park...What? Well, it won't be long before you're up and about again, will it?"

Given the nature of Choice's audience, the station's DJs have to be extremely tactful. Certain songs have to be avoided at all costs - and even Frank Sinatra falls foul of the censors.

"Some songs are in bad taste," says Tony. "Songs like Who Wants to Live Forever, and even Sinatra's My Way. The first line is 'And now the end is near', which puts it on the grey list."

Although there are some 5,500 songs to choose from on the system, they can't keep everyone happy.

"I feel sometimes there are people out there who try it on and do it for sheer devilment, but most people are very tolerant with their requests," says Tony, whose own favourites include musicals, M People, ELO and The Beatles.

Another "T in the Afternoon" show comes to an end, but there is no cheeky banter with the incoming DJ.

"I'm now handing you over to the automation system," says Tony. "As I always say, I'd love to see a fresh face in that bed."