Over 3,000 visitors stepped through the Royal Bournemouth Hospital doors on Saturday at its annual Open Day.
The event provided something for everyone with CPR demonstrations, a teddy bear clinic and a variety of health checks being offered. The Hospital had some help from some of their partner organisations including Dorset Police. They worked together to give advice and information to children and adult visitors. Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance proved to be popular with hundreds of people opting to talk to the pilot and have a look inside the helicopter.
A new contribution from the Arts University, Bournemouth (AUB) seemed to be a huge success. AUB students designed artwork for a competition that were placed around the hospital for children to find. Once all six were found, they were entered into a competition for the chance to win a game of Operation.
Theatres, Pharmacy and X-Ray were offering tours while the Physiotherapy Department were showing the different equipment that is used to help with rehabilitation. The open day also displayed the plans for the future of the hospital.
Debbie Fleming, Chief Executive, said: “The Open Day gave a real insight into the services offered by the Trust and the teams put a lot of effort in to make the day a success.
“The huge number of people attending shows how much interest there is in the hospital and it was great to see a big increase in the number of families that came. The children were really captivated by all the hands-on activities – who knows some of them may be our clinicians of the future.”
The free event is expected to return next year for another day of fun and education.