Bristol Starlight Ward is a specialised oncology and haematology ward within Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. It’s part of the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust.
Starlight Ward typically takes patients from the South West region of England, including areas such as:
- Bristol
- Bath
- Gloucester
- Swindon
- Somerset
- Devon
- Cornwall
However, it’s important to note that the ward may also accept patients from other regions of the UK or even internationally, depending on the specific needs of the patient and the availability of services. We met families from Northern Ireland while we were here.
The ward primarily cares for children who are undergoing treatment for cancer. It’s equipped with specialised facilities and staffed by experienced healthcare professionals to provide comprehensive care for these young patients.
What Does Starlight Ward Do?
Bristol Starlight Ward offers a range of services tailored to the needs of children with cancer. These services include:
- Chemotherapy: Administration of chemotherapy drugs to target cancer cells.
- Radiotherapy: Treatment using high-energy radiation beams to destroy cancer cells.
- Bone marrow transplantation: Replacing damaged bone marrow with healthy bone marrow from a donor. (At the time of writing – September 2024 – BMT is unavailable at Bristol. These patients are transferred either to Great Ormond Street Hospital or Birmingham Children’s Hospital).
- Supportive care: Services to help children and their families cope with the physical and emotional challenges of cancer treatment. This includes pain management, nutrition counselling, and psychological support.
- Research: Participation in clinical trials to develop new and more effective treatments for childhood cancer.
How is Starlight Ward Staffed?
The ward is staffed by a team of specialists, including oncologists, haematologists, nurses, and allied health professionals, who work together to provide the best possible care for young patients. On the non-medical side, Starlight Ward employs a range of staff to support the care of young patients with cancer and their families. These roles include:
- Play Specialists: Dedicated professionals who provide age-appropriate play activities and therapeutic interventions to help children cope with their illness and hospital environment.
- Support Workers: Support workers assist families in navigating the emotional and practical challenges associated with cancer, including financial support, housing assistance, and counselling. They usually work for charities such as Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust or Young Lives v Cancer.
- Teachers: These professionals specialise in helping school-aged children continue their education while they are away from school. The teachers are all qualified and work across a range of ages and subjects, they work closely with the child’s home school and their specific needs to make the educational opportunities engaging and challenging.
- Volunteers: Volunteers often play a vital role in providing companionship, support, and assistance to patients and their families. They may help with tasks such as visiting patients, reading to them, or running errands.
The specific roles and responsibilities of non-medical staff on Starlight Ward may vary, but their goal is to provide a supportive and comforting environment for children and their families during difficult times.
What Facilities Are There?
There are 16 patient rooms in the Starlight ward, and each one has a bed for the child and associated medical equipment, a fold-out bed for a parent, a recliner chair, a standard chair, a Dyson fan (because they are easier to clean), a shelf unit and some drawers to store all your bits and bobs. 10 of the rooms are en-suite. There are 2 restrooms on the ward for the rooms that do not have an en-suite, 1 is a toilet and shower room, and the other is a toilet and bathroom.
On the ward itself, there are nurses’ stations and drug preparation rooms, sluices (for disposing of bodily fluids), macerator stores (for disposable urine bottles, bed pans and sick bowls), linen cupboards, toiletries cupboards (mainly nappies and bed pads but has a small supply of feminine hygiene products and toiletries), a changing room for staff, a staff rest room, a playroom, a parent’s kitchen/lounge and a patient kitchen.
Food & Drink
On Starlight Ward the children can eat whatever they want, whenever they want. This is essential for children who are fighting the nausea that comes with chemotherapy, are on steroids as part of their treatment or are coming back from surgery at any time of day. Hot food is available between 7:30 am – 6 pm and all other food and drinks are available 24 hours a day. There is a wide range of children’s classics on this menu as well as snacks and drinks.
Food is not provided for parents who are staying with their child but there is a basic parent kitchen. The parent kitchen only has a microwave and a boiling water tap to prepare food so you will have to get creative or rely on convenience foods and takeaways. As the hospital is in the city centre, Uber Eats and Just Eat etc. can get you whatever you fancy. There is also a small coffee shop called Brewnel’s at the entrance to the children’s hospital and on the other side of the ambulance/drop-off bay is the main hospital atrium which contains a WH Smith, a Costa and an M&S Food. Over the road, there is an excellent coffee shop called Penfold’s Kitchen. The owners are incredibly sympathetic as they have been the parents of a sick child in the hospital, this is a good one to head to for a change of scenery if your child is having a general anaesthetic.
Parking
As Starlight Ward is within Bristol Royal Hospital for Children which is in the city centre, parking is virtually non-existent. The hospital itself does have a few small car parks and there are a handful of disabled spaces scattered around as well but because there is so much based all the same place, finding a parking space is next to impossible. The most realistic options are to get dropped off, use public transport or park further away and then walk or use a taxi to get you to the hospital. The closest multi-storey car park is Trenchard Street but sadly this offers no free parking for patients or even for blue badge holders, if you need to park for more than 4 hours then this will cost you £18.
Schooling
Bristol Children’s Hospital provides a comprehensive education service for children who are hospitalised. Their goal is to minimize the disruption to a child’s education and ensure continuity of learning, even during their time in the hospital.
Key features of their education provision include:
Support for families: The education service also provides support to families, helping them to understand their child’s educational needs and to maintain communication with their child’s school.
Qualified teachers: The hospital employs qualified teachers who specialise in teaching children in a hospital setting.
Personalized learning plans: Each child’s education is tailored to their individual needs and abilities, taking into account their medical condition and any special educational requirements.
Flexible learning: Education sessions can be conducted in the classroom, on the ward, or even in the child’s home, depending on the child’s condition and preferences.
Broad curriculum: The curriculum covers a wide range of subjects, including English, mathematics, science, history, geography, and other relevant subjects.
More details of Bristol Hospital Education service can be found here: https://bristolhes.co.uk/
Chapel
The Chapel at Bristol Children’s Hospital is a peaceful and welcoming space for children, families, and staff to reflect, pray, or to simply find a moment of quiet contemplation. It’s a place where people of all faiths and beliefs can come together to seek comfort, support, and spiritual guidance.
Key features of the chapel include:
- Inclusive atmosphere: The chapel is designed to be inclusive of people from all backgrounds and religious traditions. It’s a place where everyone is welcome, regardless of their beliefs or practices.
- Quiet and peaceful environment: The chapel offers a serene and calming atmosphere, providing a respite from the hustle and bustle of the hospital.
- Spiritual resources: The chapel may offer a variety of spiritual resources, such as Bibles, prayer books, or other religious texts.
- Chaplains: The hospital may have chaplains available to provide spiritual support and guidance to patients, families, and staff.
Tips to make your stay more comfortable
Whenever we are staying in the hospital, I like to take things along to make the room more comforting and homely and to make our stay more pleasant:
- sleeping bag and pillow for the parent’s bed
- duvet and pillow for the child’s bed (you can easily pack these with the JML Vac, Pack, Go set)
- fairy lights
- galaxy projector nightlight to fall asleep “under the stars”
- bunting
- travel blackout blind
- photos of friends and family
- cuddly toys
- things to do such as tablets, toys, gaming device
- own plate, bowl, cutlery and mug
- a permanent marker to label your food
- air freshener to make the room smell less hospital-like and more homely
- fabric freshener to make the bedding smell cosy and comforting
- comfy clothes like joggers and loose T-shirts
- jumpers/cardigans to keep the chill off (sometimes the air conditioning can be quite powerful)
- a page-a-day diary to keep notes of things like blood results, beads of courage collected, height/weight, food and drink intake, medicines given, procedures undertaken, questions you’ve thought of and information and contact details you are given
- Have a look at this article for more ideas on what to pack in the hospital bag.
