Christmas is a very special time of year at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). Across the hospital, dedicated teams work around the clock to ensure every child has the best chance of getting home to their family for Christmas. For those children who are too sick to go home to their families, staff at GOSH work hard to make sure the magic of Christmas reaches each and every ward.
Sallyanne, Senior Play Specialist at GOSH, has worked at the hospital for five years, working on the Neurosciences wards with children who have conditions including epilepsy, brain tumours and paediatric strokes. As a Senior Play Specialist, she helps support children from the beginning to the end of their stay at GOSH, helping to give children more positive experience of their hospital stay and involves them in decisions about their care. Sallyanne shares how her team celebrate Christmas at GOSH...
Spreading the festive spirit
Staying in hospital at Christmas can be a worrying and stressful time for sick children and their families, so everyone goes above and beyond to create a home from home for those children whose treatment needs to continue over the festive period. The wards are adorned with decorations, windows are painted with festive scenes, and there are lots of Christmas trees and Christmas lights. Staff prepare a special Christmas lunch which families can enjoy together, create festive crafts and games for the children to enjoy, and even hold Christmas parties.
The hospital’s Play team are integral for bringing Christmas to GOSH, working hard to make it feel as special as possible for children and their families. Play is a vital part of a patient’s care at GOSH, and helps the child feel in control, calm and informed every step of the way. It allows children to be children during what can be a difficult and worrying time. Fully funded by GOSH Charity, the Play team is made up of Play specialists and Play workers who help children make sense of their treatment and recovery through techniques such as role play, drawing and practising procedures on toys. They work with children and young people through all stages of their stage to minimise trauma and create a positive experience.
“We do whatever we need to do to make Christmas at GOSH magical!" adds Sallyanne, "As well as decorating the wards, we write letters to Santa with the children, have parties and make sure everyone has an advent calendar. There is lots of dressing up, lots of singing Christmas songs, lots of games and activities, lots and lots of selection boxes!”
Some children worry about how Father Christmas will find them if they are at GOSH on Christmas Eve, so the Play team organise special visits and even set up a virtual fireplace and chimney in the canteen, making sure that no one is missed out.
“We help to collect and deliver Christmas presents for all children and young people that will be here on Christmas Day. We make up stockings for everyone, with all the usual Christmas Eve traditional gifts such as new pyjamas, a book, chocolates. There are even little gifts for the parents as well.
“Part of my role is meeting children and young people who have been newly diagnosed with a condition, for example a brain tumour. These children have often not been in hospital before and it can be very overwhelming. Being able to support those children and their families through the process from beginning to end and reducing the anxiety and trauma that these events may cause, is my favourite part of the job.”
A magical time of year
It's not just staff that bring Christmas cheer to the hospital. GOSH Charity’s annual Stocking Appeal sees messages from hundreds of supporters displayed around the hospital, both digitally and on paper stockings. These messages help spread festive spirit to children and families staying in hospital.
Anyone can leave a stocking message; all you need to do is donate to GOSH Charity’s Christmas Appeal. By donating to GOSH Charity this Christmas, you’ll be helping fund vital resources and support that GOSH needs to get seriously ill children one step closer to home.
An extraordinary hospital
GOSH (then known as the Hospital for Sick Children) first opened its doors in 1852 as the first hospital in the UK dedicated solely to the treatment of children. 170 years later and GOSH continues to be a trailblazer in children’s healthcare with around 600 children and young people arriving every day for life-changing treatments.
The hospital has always relied on charitable donations. While the NHS now covers the day to day running costs of the hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity (GOSH Charity) raises funds to support GOSH’s most urgent needs, over and above what the NHS can afford, enabling GOSH to remain an international centre of excellence in paediatric care. GOSH Charity’s Christmas Appeal will help fund state-of-the-art medical technology, pioneering research and patient and family support services to help get children home to their families as quickly as possible.