Treasure Hunt Takes Youngsters to Operating Theatre

Published on: 18 Jan, 2017
Updated on: 25 Jan, 2017

A treasure hunt can be a useful way of relieving the possible stress of children being taken to the operating theatre

The journey to a hospital operating theatre is rarely a pleasant one and for children can be especially scary.

At the Royal Surrey County Hospital they are introducing a change to make the experience less stressful – by taking them on a treasure hunt.

Some unusual characters have appeared on the walls of the hospital’s otherwise nondescript corridor between the Hascombe children’s ward and the operating theatres.

Looks like this young patient has spotted a character…

Youngsters will be encouraged to spot as many as they can as they make the short journey for treatment.

Once they return from surgery they will be presented with a certificate indicating the number characters they have spotted.

The idea was generated by theatre healthcare assistant Tracy Foster after recognising how anxious children could become on the journey.

…now to carefully note it down.

Tracy said: “When children become distressed before an operation it can lead to delays and even to the cancellation of a procedure.

“Here at the Royal Surrey we understand that the prospect of receiving an anaesthetic and having an operation can be incredibly scary for our younger patients and we are keen to minimise this as best we can.

“The distraction approach employed by the treasure hunt can help calm the children down and turn what has previously been a terrifying journey into a fun one.”