The Murray Parish Trust are delighted to donate £3,000 to fund a new Phototherapy light for the Ocean Ward at Southampton Children’s Hospital!
Phototherapy lights are in daily use at Southampton Children’s Hospital, providing often life saving treatment for sick and premature babies with jaundice. Currently, when babies with serious heart conditions in the cardiac unit in Ocean Ward need this treatment, the team need to borrow a phototherapy light from the neonatal unit. These babies are often only a few hours old and if all the phototherapy lights are already in use, this vital treatment can be delayed and lead to tremendous complications. The lights also reduce cortisol production, promote sleep and support growth in babies helping their overall wellbeing, resilience and physical development at such a critical moment.
With Sarah and Jim’s personal experience of their baby daughter Ella-Jayne being treated for a heart defect at Southampton Children’s Hospital, they are thrilled to be able to provide one of these lights for Ocean Ward so that the exceptional team are able to give their tiny cardiac patients the very best care, as quickly as possible.
Our paediatric cardiac unit admits babies who are just a few hours old and may need treatment for jaundice. We have to borrow a phototherapy light from the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit or Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, but they are often already in use which means we have to delay jaundice treatment for our patients. Having a light of our own will mean that we can provide prompt treatment for jaundice which will deliver the gold standard of care for young cardiac patients – Catherine Roberts, Ocean Ward Manager
The new phototherapy light will be installed in the coming months and will help treat and hopefully save the lives of hundreds of critically ill children, in need of urgent care, for years to come.