Generous parents (Gill and Matthew Ashton) raised money to improve the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Royal Oldham Hospital.
They wanted to acknowledge the outstanding care that the nursing staff had given their son Elijah when he was born 15 weeks early weighing just 822 grams.
A room that was previously nicknamed “the cave” was given a dramatic face lift with the installation of Relax & View®wall and ceiling panels from Wardray Premise Ltd.
Ward Matron, Lynn Bowe, explained that this 6 cot room was used during the transition from NICU, where parents started to prepare to take their babies home. Although the room was recently built providing excellent care facilities it wasn’t an inspiring or positive environment.
Lynn explained that although premature babies don’t open their eyes for quite a while, they still need to get used to the rhythm of day and night. Wardray’s Relax & View® panels were fitted with dimmer switches so they can be used to help simulate this pattern more naturally than the old overhead lighting. Lynn felt that the panels had ‘made such a positive difference to working in the room now’.
After the installation of the lightboxes, parent Gill Aston said that ‘the room looks bright and fresh and the images give the feeling of a new day, a fresh start which is a positive feeling that you need if you’re in hospital for a long time.’
Wardray Premise staff were delighted to be part of the successful transformation and enjoyed meeting the parent and ward staff. The Ashton family, ward staff and the Wardray team are photographed enjoying the finished room.
