I’m having a campaigning week this week, in a minor sort of way, because we have started work at St Christopher’s on our new anniversary project which is going to be for patients, carers etc to come in to the Hospice more in a flexible way, instead of coming in for the day to the day centre, and being visited at home. It should reduce social isolation, but it should also allow us to see more of the less sick patients.

However, I think there ought to be better facilities for children. At the Princess Alice Hospice, in Esher, they have a glass fronted children’s room in the coffee lounge in the entrance hall, where parents can lounge and watch their children. They have loads of activities, of which card-making for ‘sorry you’re ill granny’ type cards (obviously in a Hospice, you can’t have ‘get well’ cards. Or if you do, it’s time to start talking to the parents about what they are telling their children). There are some games, a DVD (you can choose from a load of DVDs at the front desk) and a computer.

We’re having computers for information for the adults, but not for children to play; this means that the info computers will get used by the children and there’ll be hassle. Also at Esher, they have garden games, quoits, giant Jenga, giant connect 4 and so on. Currently all children aSt christopher’s can do is look at the fish in the pool. What do other hospices do, I wonder?

Pics of the rebuilding at St Christopher’s, now under way, in solidarity with all colleagues working through a difficult time, to make things better in the future:
The giant skip