“The new waiting room is amazing. The furniture is so comfortable and the wall art brings the staff and patients so much joy.”
We have launched a £100,000 fundraising appeal to refurbish all of the waiting rooms throughout the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham to make them brighter, more comfortable and welcoming.
There are 23 waiting rooms throughout the hospital and QEHB Charity’s aim is to transform each one to make them look less clinical so friends and family can be comfortable whilst waiting for their loved ones.
A lot of people sit in waiting rooms for hours at a time, whether they’re waiting for a loved one to come out of surgery or finish their treatment, which can be extremely uncomfortable, especially when they are worried about what is happening.
The waiting rooms are currently dark, dull and clinical areas that are unwelcoming for families to wait in. The new areas will be bright, colourful and comfortable so visitors feel like they can relax whilst they wait.
The existing waiting rooms on the wards at QEHB.
One waiting room has already been refurbished on Ward 411 thanks to The Giles' Trust. The Senior Sister, Jemma Cliffe, said: “The new waiting room is amazing. The furniture is so comfortable and the wall art brings the staff and patients so much joy.”
With over one million patients passing through QEHB’s doors every year, waiting rooms are used every single day and renovating them will change someone’s experience at the hospital.
Laura Power, Deputy Head of Fundraising at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, said: “The new and improved waiting rooms will also be used for staff to help a patient’s recovery, as well as families waiting for their loved ones. The rooms will be bright, cosy and calming for everyone to enjoy a cup of tea and socialise away from the hospital bed.
“With your support the waiting rooms will become a bright and inviting space where staff, patients and their families can sit in a calm and relaxing environment.
“The hospital charity exists purely to provide added extras that go ‘over and above’ what the NHS can fund and these waiting rooms will be an incredible added extra for patients and their families.”
Each waiting room will cost £4,500 to refurbish. If you are interested in sponsoring the refurbishment of a waiting room on behalf of a company or organisation then please contact charlotte.schofield@uhb.nhs.uk, or you can make a donation at the top of this page.
Our thanks go to the following organisations for their generous support of the waiting rooms appeal:
