The Preston hospital nurses raising money to give parents of poorly children vital supplies

Parents forced to urgently travel to the hospital overnight to be with their poorly children may now finally be able to have hot food, drinks and other supplies thanks to nurses at Royal Preston Hospital.

Chantelle Smith and Shanice Gibbs, two pediatric nurses who work on the children's ward at the Sharoe Green Lane hospital decided to set up a Just Giving page in a bid to raise essential funds for the project.

It comes as some facilities on the children's ward recently underwent a full refurbishment but the parent's room was left with a few basic facilities.

The £1,000 the pair are hoping to raise will go towards essentials such as sanitary products, toothbrushes, hot drinks and hot food and suitable storage options for parent's who find themselves in the ward in the middle of the night.

Shanice, who is a mum to two children herself, said: "The ward has raised a lot of money in the past for the children and recently had our isolation unit completely refurbished and it is all brand new, but the parent's room in the middle has not been modernised and all the facilities are really basic.

"A lot of parents have struggled during Covid, especially when there were restrictions and only one parent could come in with a child, so they would often spend hours on their own without food or a drink.

"For many parents, they have been forced to come in the middle of the night via an ambulance and have nothing with them. If a child has to stay in for a week, they often don't feel comfortable getting supplies and so many parents are too ashamed to say they haven't got anything with them.

"The parent's ward has always been a bit run down and we want to do something for them. As a parent, my little boy has been on the ward lots of times and when you are stuck in a room for hours on end, it can be so difficult."

A donation box will also be introduced to the room so that parents can donate further cash to replenish food and drink options for other parents.

And the other nurses on Ward Eight are also on board with the plans and have said they would be willing to take part in fundraising activities in the future.

Chantelle added: "The parents using this space have children who can be very poorly and therefore this room gives parents them an invaluable space to store and cook a quick meal or grab a snack, meaning they don’t need to leave their children for too long going off the ward.

"We as nurses’ care about the family around our patients as much as the children who we look after.

"As we all know Covid-19 has had a big impact on everyone and due to this pandemic, we ask parents to not leave the ward into the main hospital as much as possible to avoid transmission to our patients.

"This sometimes means parents can not get food and necessities from the shop and as a team who believe in family-centred care, we want to make an already upsetting time for children and families easier in any way we can."

A spokesperson from the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust said: "The Trust has many colleagues who actively fund raise to purchase items to make areas more comfortable and more fulfilling for our patients and visitors.

"We wish the team well in their efforts and are very grateful for their support."

Donations can be made to the Just Giving page here.

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