Bristol Children's Hospital reveals plans for patient hotel

If built it will be the first of its kind in the UK

The Bristol Children's Hospital cares for 140,000 children every year
Author: James DiamondPublished 17th Jul 2024

The Bristol Children's Hospital's charity says it wants to build a hotel specifically for families using the site.

The Grand Appeal has submitted a formal planning application to Bristol City Council. for what it says would be the UK's first dual-purpose patient hotel for babies and children getting treatment.

Providing accommodation for both the patients and their families, it would primarily be for families who travel to the hospital from across the South West and South Wales.

The concept of Patient Hotels originated in Sweden to tackle the longstanding challenge of delivering continued care to patients who no longer require an in-patient hospital bed.

The idea is the Grand Appeal Patient Hotel will also offer therapy and rehabilitation services.

Martin Gargan, Clinical Chair at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children said: “We admit critically ill children from as far as the tip of Cornwall and with each of these children, come their worried families.

"Stressed, anxious and far from home, some of these families are coming to terms with their child facing a life-long health condition, life-changing injuries, and possibly a lengthy inpatient stay.

“The new Patient Hotel will transform the care of these vulnerable young patients. Children will be accommodated alongside their families, which will improve their wellbeing and reduce anxiety.

"Parents and caregivers will play an active role in their child’s therapy, building confidence and helping to improve their child’s outcomes on discharge.”

The Patient Hotel will offer patients and families access to 12 ensuite rooms, with a communal kitchen, laundry and lounge areas.

Alongside the accommodation, there would also be a purpose-built therapy and gym space, a specially adapted kitchen for hospital dieticians and an external landscaped garden for rehabilitation and relaxation.

Jingle Jam, the world’s biggest gaming charity has been the lead funder of this project and has supported The Grand Appeal since 2017 raising nearly £2 million to help make this new Patient Hotel development a reality.

Nicola Masters, Director of The Grand Appeal said: “Our almost 30-year pioneering partnership with Bristol Children’s Hospital and Aardman has always been focussed on what we can do to help the hospital pioneer care for critically ill and sick babies and children.

"The Patient Hotel is our next step on that journey, whilst setting a new standard in the UK for children’s healthcare following intensive care and treatment in hospital.

“We are enormously grateful to Jingle Jam for their ongoing commitment over the past few years.

"The money they have raised through their annual Jingle Jam event towards funding this facility has been phenomenal and has only been made possible thanks to the thousands of gamers who have donated from all over the world and have passionately supported this project year after year.”

Bristol Children’s Hospital provides life-saving care to over 140,000 children each year and has the largest geographical catchment area of any children's hospital in England.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is the only unit in the South West providing the highest level of care to critically ill and premature babies from across the region, caring for over 800 babies a year.

Throughout England, approximately 10% of hospital beds are taken up by patients who are well enough to go home after treatment. That figure is less than 3% in Scandinavian countries where Patient-Hotel type facilities are more commonplace.

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