#TeamNorthMid blogs

The redevelopment of the new Rainbow Ward, our babies, children and young people (BCYP) ward at North Mid brought fond and lessons-filled memories to Clare Oliver, as she shares her remarkable work journey in our series. And as Rainbow Ward starts its new chapter, she is filled with optimism and stronger dedication for the improvement of patient care.

Words by Clare Oliver

My name is Clare Oliver, manager of the newly redeveloped Rainbow Ward, and I’ve been working at North Mid for 27 years and counting.

Since starting with the trust back in 1996 as a newly qualified nurse, Rainbow Ward was then based in a now non-existent block which was called the Medical Block. The Ward was an old-fashioned Florence Nightingale style ward which was very small and cramped and not adapted as a Paediatric ward. We however made the best of what we had and decorated the ward with paintings, pictures and colour and tried to make it a fun, safe and welcoming environment for our patients.

We had many issues with the ward such as ants in summer, birds flying in through the doors and windows, hedgehogs walking in at nighttime and many creepy crawlies!!! The side rooms were particularly small and could barely fit a full-size patient bed let alone a parent bed, so space was vital. We had no dedicated HDU area, playroom, school room or parents' room and the staff area was tiny. 

In 2003, we were fortunate enough to be told that we would be moving to a new ward on T2 in the Tower block which had been an Adult Oncology ward and was being refurbished and adapted for us as a Paediatric ward and would be decorated with our paediatric patients in mind.

In April 2004 we were able to move into our new Rainbow Ward on T2 which was a huge day for the team and many staff came in on their days off to support. Unfortunately, due to the cost of the building work we didn't get the beautifully decorated ward we were expecting but what we did have was a 25 bedded spacious and suitable area for our patients, parents, and staff. The Ward was formally opened by John Reid now Baron John Reid of Cardowan), who was at the time the Health Secretary.

The team continued to do the amazing work they do and care for some very sick and complex BCYP and despite many challenges along the way always gave 100%.

In 2017, I was fortunate and successful in becoming acting ward manager and in 2018 this became a permanent post. One of the first jobs I wanted to tackle was the artwork on the ward and make it a more welcoming and friendly area. I was lucky to be put in contact with several non-executive board members and local schools/colleges who wanted to donate their time and money in helping me make this happen. I was very kindly given special permission by Quentin Blake to use his artwork on the walls to create two large murals and additional work in our playroom and help in designing signage to our wards and various departments.

Late in 2019, we were informed that Rainbow Ward Would be getting a refurbishment and plans were started. As a Team, we were excited as the needs of our BCYP were constantly changing and requirements varying so this was truly something to look forward too.

Unfortunately, soon after Covid became a world-wide issue and in March 2020 we handed Rainbow Ward over to our colleagues looking after adult patients, whose needs for beds and support was at the time a lot greater than ours.

We as a team moved to Starlight Ward and became involved in supporting our North Mid family with staff being re-deployed to critical care unit, to adult wards at Great Ormond Street Hospital and to helping to set up a community site known as Osbourne Grove. This continued for both waves of the pandemic. Eventually, we had to handover Starlight Ward to adult services as the pandemic worsened and we set up a small ward in children’s outpatients. This happened twice during the pandemic, but it showed how adaptable and flexible the team were throughout.

We moved back to Starlight Ward, but Rainbow Ward continued to remain under adult services as an escalation ward until 2022 when we are informed that the refurbishment would happen.

As you can imagine the team were over the moon that it was finally happening, and we were happy to be involved with the planning and design of the ward and its layout and later with the artwork. The work commenced in August 2022.

As always with such a huge job, there were many issues along the way but here we are today with our beautiful new ward with its 4 high dependency unit bed, 2 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) rooms, teenage room/school room, playroom, seminar room, quiet room and 16 beautifully rainbow-themed bed spaces which will ensure that our BCYP patients receive the care, treatment and support that is required of a paediatric Ward in one of the busiest areas of North London. For our long-term patients, in particular this will have a huge impact on them as they have followed us on this journey and will now be able to benefit from our lovely ward and hopefully enjoy their stay in hospital and make it a lot less worrying for them and their families.

Huge thank yous to so many people who have helped to make this happen and supported us along the way to make our vision a reality. We truly couldn't have done it without you all!!!  

 

 

 

We thank Clare for taking part in our #ThisIsMe blog series which focuses on the incredible diversity of our workforce across North Mid, beyond the usual protected characteristics of age, disability, ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, sex, and sexuial orientation.

We hope you enjoy reading her story - please help us encourage colleagues to do the same by sharing this post.

Feel free to share any feedback or comments for Clare. If you wish to share your own story or think you know colleagues who might want to share their experiences about diversity, please contact our communications team @northmid.comms@nhs.net.