Patient hotel will be 'lifeline' for families

Kate and Pete Hill would take it in turns staying in hospital with Sofia

The parents of a girl who spent more than six months in hospital say that a patient hotel will make a big difference to families.

Planning permission has been granted to The Grand Appeal for the UK's first purpose built patient hotel.

A 12-bed patient hotel will offer patients and their families the chance to stay near to Bristol Royal Infirmary without taking up bed when not receiving acute treatment.

Hospital bosses said the facility would be a "lifeline" for patients and families.

Kate Hill, whose daughter Sofia was in the Bristol Children's Hospital, next door to the BRI, said that a patient hotel would have allowed for her brothers to visit and play during the stint.

Sofia was paralysed due to a rare aneurysm in her spine last summer, but thanks to intense rehabilitation and physio is now able to walk with a frame.

"The Patient Hotel would have made an enormous difference as it would have provided a less clinical and more 'normal' environment for Sofia to recover in," Mrs Hill added.

"Once Sofia's condition had stabilised, she was largely in hospital for the physiotherapy sessions three times a week. She remained an inpatient on the ward for the rest of her week.

"She had to eat all meals on the ward off a tray, not at a dining table with her family, she couldn't play with her friends or brothers, and we couldn't cuddle on sofa and watch a movie - all very small things that we used to do, and we so sorely missed.

"An environment such as the Patient Hotel would have afforded an environment which would have allowed for some rare moments of normality as a family which we all needed so much."

The patient hotel, which is hoped to be finished by the end of 2027, will have a therapy room

Nicola Masters, the director of the Grand Appeal, said she is hoping the facility will be complete by the end of 2027.

"This is the first of it's kind in the UK where therapy and rehabilitation will be available on sight.

"It also gives patients and their families the chance to stay together once they step down from acute hospital care.

"The children's hospital in Bristol covers the largest geographical area of any in England, for some families it can take over three hours to get here.

"To be close to the hospital and to be able to be with you family will be a lifeline for many."