A new public living
room has been installed at Rotherham Hospital with the aim of offering
patients, visitors and members of staff a space where they can go to relax,
chat and look out for each other during what can often be stressful times.
The living room is
housed inside a teepee in Rotherham Hospital’s main entrance and has been
provided by social movement, Camerados. The tipi will be in place for three months
until 27 April 2019.
George Briggs, Chief
Operating Officer at The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We know that it
can often be a stressful and worrying time being in hospital, whether as a
patient, visiting friends and family or as someone who works here, and we
wanted to provide people with a quiet space to go to.
“We’re also building
on the feedback we have received from our patients and visitors about how we
can continue improving our services, and something which has been highlighted
was the need for somewhere where like this that people can go to have some time
to think, reflect and take time away from the day-to-day activities.”
The project aims to
return a balance to the busy hospital environment by encouraging a spirit of
togetherness, camaraderie and fraternity where patients, carers and staff can
step outside of their day-to-day roles and routines and connect on a deeper,
more human level than might otherwise happen.
Maff Potts, Founder
of Camerados, said: “In just three months, 15,000 people used the last public
living room we placed in a hospital, and most of them were staff. It is just
somewhere to escape, no fixing, no service, just being alongside and looking
out for each other. We call it being a camerado, and camerados are popping up
all over the country.”
The teepee will be
open 24 hours a day, seven days a week until 27 April.