Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A children's hospital professional who advocates for unrestricted visiting and parental involvement in pediatric care.
On the island
Eight records
The keepsakes
No book or luxury recorded for this episode.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:33In recent years it's been realized that the old system of only allowing mothers to visit their children briefly at certain times was wrong. How do you try to overcome this?
Yes, and again we've tried to overcome this by having unrestricted visiting for the parents. And they certainly can come in… in the morning and right through the day until the evening. Very often father calls in on his way to work, and very often again after he's finished his day's work.
Presenter asks
1:20How do you keep the children occupied? Are there plenty of toys?
Oh, there are plenty of toys, yes. And the children are encouraged to get up as much as they want to. And if a child can run around and play on its own, then there's usually very little crying, and they settle in very quickly indeed.
Presenter asks
1:54Do you have voluntary workers to read to the children and so on?
Yes, we do. Uh we are hoping to start up a new scheme… for voluntary workers… but of course most people who… give their time, can only give it in the evenings, and by this time the children are usually tucked up… and so it's difficult for them to come.
Presenter asks
2:13Aren't there lessons for children who are getting better?
Yes, we have uh quite a number of school teachers and the children have their proper lessons during the morning and the afternoon. And these they enjoy, they like this very much.
Presenter asks
3:40Despite the fact they're in hospital, you've still managed to give them a pretty good Christmas, don't you?
Oh yes, I think they thoroughly enjoy it… Christmas starts quite a fortnight before December the twenty fifth. In the hospital we have a nativity play which is given by the nurses and other members of the staff, and the children take part as well. And then we have a Christmas show, which is produced by the medical staff. And it's always great fun. And then on the morning of Christmas Eve, the nurses get up very early indeed and go off to Covent Garden… they come back with barrow loads, literally barrow loads, of fruit and vegetables and nuts… And then on Christmas Day… the nurses start by singing carols… And then Father Christmas comes… drawn by the [staff], who are dressed up as fairies or some form of animal. And then he visits every child in the hospital… turkey and plum pudding and paper hats and crackers… and the consultants come and carve the turkey.
“Now, with children, even more than with adults, reassurance and security must play a very big part in achieving a cure.”
“The sight of a sick child any sick child is distressing. You have four hundred and fifty or more always in your care. The majority of them are going to get well, but some despite all the skill and love that can be extended to them… isn't the hardest part of your job to keep in check the emotional side of your nature?”
“Yes, I think it is, and of course this is one of the very great difficulties that a young student nurse, when she comes into a hospital like Great Ormond Street, has to face up to right from the very beginning. But I think it's more a matter of acceptance than glossing over the fact and trying to subdue one's emotions.”
“Now Sir James Barry gave the rights of Peter Pan to the hospital, so you always have a visit from Peter.”