Renovation
Our family accommodation, consisting of bedrooms with en-suites, communal kitchen, lounge and quiet rooms, is situated just a short walking distance across the corridor from the PICU, enabling families to be at their child’s bedside within minutes at whatever time of the day or night. The rooms are now old and in need of urgent renewal and upgrading.
A modern, more comfortable environment will be an enormous benefit to families to help cope with the pressures of having a child in intensive care and who find themselves separated from the familiarity and comfort of their own homes.
We appreciate that if you have a child receiving treatment in the PICU it can make life complicated if you live a long distance away from hospital, or if you arrive during the night, or without prior notice and do not have many possessions with you. Rooms are usually available for parents and carers whose children are very poorly or if there are particular considerations, such as if you’re disabled or have travelled a long distance. Around half of patients that come to the PICU come from outside of Southampton.
In October 2019, Friends of PICU started the design and tender preparation for the renovation of the accommodation area. The updated dedicated facility was due to open in 2020, however timings have had to adjust due to the Coronavirus pandemic and we are currently in the process of reviewing the new timings. As soon as feasible this project will re-start in earnest.
Parents and families deal with enormous stress when having a child in hospital, let alone worrying about where they might stay and how they will care for other children within their family. The on-site accommodation, kitchen and waiting areas provide a sanctuary and lifeline to families. Parents are able to spend precious time, gathering their thoughts, resting their heads for some sleep, making refreshments, talking with their family, or spending time with their other children, knowing they are close to their child. The communal kitchen and lounge also provides opportunities for families to talk and support each other through these difficult periods.
The renovation will provide improved, larger sized rooms to cater for families, a fully equipped shared kitchen where food can be prepared and eaten, a nursing mothers room, and a separate private room to talk to the medical team.
Donate to Friends of PICU
If you would like to make a donation towards equipment and services, large and small, high cost and low cost, to support lifesaving care for critically ill children and their families please follow this link and you will see the various ways in which you can donate.