The out-of-area parents’ rooms at Burnley General Hospital have had a makeover thanks to a generous donation from Emma and Seamus Hardiman, from Lancaster. The couple, who became parents to identical twins Liam and Connell on 20 December 2017, raised funds for the hospital’s charity, ELHT&Me, to redecorate the rooms following their stay there.
Thanks to Emma and Seamus’ generosity, the rooms have had the old carpet replaced with cushion flooring, new roller blinds have been installed as well as wall-mounted TV’s, a phone line has been added to accommodate for poor mobile signal, and the lighting replaced to LED. The rooms have also been fully decorated and artwork mounted on the walls, to create a calming, therapeutic environment.
Emma was transferred from her local hospital in Lancaster to the Lancashire Women’s and Newborn Centre at Burnley General Hospital at 23 weeks and five days gestation, and gave birth at 24 weeks to twins, weighing only 1.3 and 1.6 pounds each.
With the specialist care required not available locally, Emma and the twins spent 11 weeks at the Women’s and Newborn Centre, with the babies receiving treatment in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Emma and Seamus stayed in the existing out-of-area accommodation available at the hospital at the time, and following the twins’ discharge from hospital, decided to raise funds to improve the environment for families using the rooms in the future.
“We raised funds for the family rooms through sponsorship for the annual Three Bridge Run in Lancaster, with our family and friends”, said Emma.
“We thought it was important to redecorate the rooms, because the environment should be modern and liveable and homely, especially for parents like us, who had to spend quite a lot of time in them.
“We want to thank all the staff at Burnley NICU, as everybody was absolutely amazing and helped our experience be as bearable as it could be. To the families using the rooms - try to stay as positive as possible, as it’s a very difficult time. Please use the rooms to have a rest, you can’t sit by your babies constantly as it’s is draining, and you need to keep yourselves well. We hope our story gives you hope!”
If you would like more information on the Trust’s charity, visit www.elht.nhs.uk/charity or email fundraising@elht.nhs.uk.