University Hospital Southampton unveils £3.5 million children's trauma unit

Staff and patients in Southampton Children’s Hospital trauma and orthopaedic G3 ward are now enjoying state of the art new facilities after extensive building work was completed.   

Working in partnership with Southampton Hospitals Charity, whose campaign raised a staggering £1.64 million towards the refurbishment, the ambitious project took just over 12 weeks to complete.  

The unit is one of only two trauma units in the South of England and treats around 1200 children every year, from broken bones to providing life-changing surgery, as well as caring for children with cerebral palsy and neuromuscular disorders.   

Originally built in the 1970’s, the dark and outdated ward has been transformed into a modern world-class facility.    

The unit has been fitted with a new ventilation system, hygienic wall cladding and flooring.   

In addition to the new infrastructure the unit now features six en-suite bathrooms, larger patient bays and pull-down carer beds, allowing parents to have a comfortable overnight stay next to their child. Parents can also now enjoy access to a new parent’s room, providing a space for them to relax, connect to other parents and rest.   

Each bay has been fitted with state-of-the-art medical hoists, allowing the clinical teams to move patients more independently and safely.     

The ward now benefits from a purpose-built rehabilitation room, a first of its kind for the unit where previous patients had to use a shared space.    

Ellis Banfield, Director of Southampton Hospitals Charity, says: “We have been overwhelmed by the level of support from our local community for the refurbishment of our children’s trauma and orthopaedic ward. Thank you so much for helping us to reach £1.64 million, our most ambitious fundraising appeal to date!  

“Because of our donors and supporters, we have been able to fund a dedicated therapy room, parents’ room, staff room, and installed space-themed artwork throughout the ward, making it a much more child-friendly environment. These new additions will really improve the experience of our young patients and their families, enabling the thousands of children the ward treats every year to benefit from a modern, calmer, and more appropriate ward environment. None of this would be possible without the continuing support of our community”. 

Lucia Lazzeri-Ford, matron at Southampton Children’s Hospital, said: “The renovation has exceeded all our expectations, with the new facilities and environment not only making a noticeable difference to our patients and their families but also to our hard-working staff. We finally have a ward that matches the world-class care that we provide to our young patients at Southampton Children’s Hospital”.  

We would like to thank Southampton Hospitals Charity for helping to fund this outstanding new facility”.   

Kevin Mills, principle project manager at University Hospital Southampton said “This was a big project with a tight turnaround, but the finished product is down to the teamwork of all parties involved. This included the wonderful clinical staff, our principal designer, Kendall Kingscott and contractor LST Projects Ltd, who have worked tirelessly with the University Hospital Southampton estates and facilities capital development team to bring the project in ahead of a challenging programme.”