Staff and parents have been given an imput into the interior design of the new paediatric centre at Daisy Hill Hospital.
The new centre – along with one at Craigavon Area Hospital – are part of an overall £14.5m plan to modernise hospital services for children and young people across the Southern Health and Social Trust.
All planned paediatric surgery for the Southern area will be centralised in the new purpose designed centre on the sixth floor at Daisy Hill which will include a theatre suite, recovery area, 19 inpatient beds and ambulatory care services.
This latest workshop follows an event with around 200 parents, children and elected representatives, some months before construction began.
Welcoming the new development, Assistant Director of Specialist Child Health and Disability for the Trust Geraldine Maguire said: “We are delighted that our new paediatric developments which we have been planning for a number of years are now really beginning to take shape.
“We would like to thank all the staff, patients and visitors throughout the entire Daisy Hill site who have been so co-operative in helping us make way for the development of the new unit on the sixth floor.
“We have a very dedicated paediatric workforce and look forward to having the highest standards of facilities to offer acute paediatric care across both of our hospitals.
“All the latest guidance on acute paediatric services recommends that children and young people are cared for in a very child friendly environment, so we welcome the views of parents and children in the design of our units and will do our best to include some of their suggestions in our new facilities.”
The Craigavon Unit is due to be completed in Summer 2017 and Daisy Hill Unit in Autumn 2017.
Picture: Participants in the workshop to help with the interior design of the new paediatric unit at Daisy Hill Hospital, including paediatric staff and design team.
