News

What we do Wednesday! 🤩 LED sky panels for TMBU parents sitting room

Published 23rd March 2022

What we do Wednesday! 🤩

“If it was good enough for big London Hospitals then it was good enough for the TMBU…..The sky is blue and the sun is always shining in our new look parent sitting room!” Philp Amess, Neonatal Consultant TMBU. 💛☀️

We are so excited to share with you news of a big project on the Trevor Mann Baby Unit that really improves the parents sitting area. We are honoured to have been asked by unit staff to fund two LED panels that gave the effect of a view through a window. These panels give the feeling of opening and brightening up the parents space on the unit, and we hope will help give families a boost.

Philip Amess, Neonatal Consultant from TMBU, tell us why these panels were so needed and the difference they will help to make:

“We have always struggled to provide perfect facilities for parents on the TMBU but it is not from want of trying! We cannot readily change the spaces we have for families but the EBA have always been very active with initiatives to improve parent bedrooms, the sitting room and expressing facilities. Of course we now have a beautiful quiet room down to efforts from the EBA.

The sitting room is a difficult one. Space is restricted and there is no outside window. It can feel a bit depressing and probably not the greatest place to be if you are tired and have the worries of a sick baby. We looked into opening up a wall to allow natural light to come in but this would have meant losing the privacy of our expressing room. Claire Morfoot had a great idea before she left. She came across a company that provided LED panels that gave the effect of a view through a window. There were some amazing examples of how hospital spaces could be improved. We thought if it was good enough for big London Hospitals then it was good enough for the TMBU. So two panels have been put in place. There is a sky scene for the ceiling and specially made Brighton pier view for the wall. This has all been down to the generosity of the EBA. Thank you.

I have to admit COVID has really affected the way we have been able to accommodate parents and make families welcome. In particular the parent sitting room has been closed but we are hoping things will change soon. We would love to open up and show off our new bright and light LED panels. The sky is blue and the sun is always shining in our new look parent sitting room! We hope the panels will give a boost to our families and represent a return from COVID restrictions to more positive times ahead.”