The ‘Breathing Space’ is calm, non-clinical room where parents and guardians whose child is in hospital can take a break from the busy ward environment.
The True Colours Trust has funded over 20 of these rooms in hospitals across the country and hopes that many other hospitals will be inspired to create Breathing Spaces on their wards, improving the experiences of parents and carers of children in hospital.
The True Colours Trust said: “We are delighted that the team at The James Cook University Hospital share our vision for providing dedicated rooms for parents and has opened this wonderful new space for parents whose children are in hospital.
“The room demonstrates that it is possible to create comfortable, welcoming spaces in hospitals for parents to take time to rest, eat together or just have some breathing space away from the bedside of their child.”
Cathy Brammer, lead nurse for children and young people at James Cook, said: “I want to say thank you so much to The True Colours Trust for their help and support, the room looks amazing as does the kitchen.
“We are so grateful; it’s really making a huge difference to families already.”
Ward manager Naomi Hewett added: “We were extremely lucky to secure funding for our parents’ room pre-COVID, it has been a long time coming to see our mood board now transformed into this wonderful space.
“We now have a welcoming, calm and tranquil space for our parents to use throughout their child's hospital stay. We are extremely grateful to all those involved in the development of this space which will without doubt make our parents’ stay that little bit easier.”
Ben Murphy, head of Our Hospitals Charity, added: “We were delighted to collaborate with True Colours Trust who share our vision of creating spaces that promote wellbeing for parents that are going through a challenging time. This room will benefit so many families and we are so grateful for their support to enable us to make this happen.”
