“We wanted to do more than we have in the past at our open days,” said Sally Watts, head of communications, who is helping to organise the Festival with membership manager Elinor Morton. “Having the support of the hospital charity has made a real difference to what we can do this year and we are really pleased with the response we have had from departments across the hospital.
“The support of the wider community is also a great bonus. We are pleased to have Bhangra dancers and Dhol drummers to entertain visitors in our marquee, as well as a jazz band (many of whom are NGH staff), our own NGH Choir, and I know a lot of people are looking forward to having a go with the Salsa experience provided by Cripps Recreation Centre.”
Visitors to the Festival can have basic health checks, see inside a mock major incident room, take the ‘Play Your Costs Right’ challenge, see how we detect and diagnose diseases in pathology, or have a tour inside the ‘engine’ of NGH – the boiler room. They could also be among the first people to see inside our new Barratt birth centre before it opens later in the year. Children can take their teddy to the Well Teddy Clinic, win a prize on the wildlife trail or paint their own bird box. There will also be a demonstration hive where you can watch bees at work,and jars of honey for sale.
Entrants to the NGH History Quiz have the chance of winning tickets for a family of four to see The Wind in The Willows at The Derngate in November. Visitors can have a lovely cream tea at Café Royale or enjoy a burger from the barbecue. The hospital’s Radio Nene Valley will be doing a live broadcast on the day.
“There is so much for everyone tosee and do,” said Sally, “they will struggle to fit it all in before we close at 4.00pm!”
There will also be an opportunity at the Festival for people to return medical equipment such as crutches,walking sticks and more specialised items that are no longer needed. Every year NGH issues hundreds of items that are not always returned when they are finished with, often because people simply do not know where to bring it. With this in mind there will be an equipment ‘amnesty’ at the Festival for anything that patients or their relatives no longer require. Help to reuse the equipment so we can spend the money for replacements on other aspects of patient care. Please return items to the container outside the marquee on car park 1, where there will also be information about who to call if you have equipment that you can’t get to us and need some help in collecting. NGH News
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