CHILDREN from Airedale Hospital's on-site day nursery have helped choose images for distraction walls which will feature in the new emergency department.

The youngsters told A&E consultants what they liked and disliked about each picture.

Four scenes – a farm, a pirate underwater, a rainforest and a monster hospital – will be used when the new department opens this autumn.

Alexandra Danecki, consultant in emergency medicine at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Distraction walls are a great tool to help us assess children who come into the department. They can be used by parents, doctors or nursing staff to distract and entertain young patients during their assessment and treatment.

“The images encourage children to concentrate on looking for specific items ‘hidden’ in the pictures. There is good evidence that this type of distraction helps youngsters to relax and enables them to tolerate procedures with less anxiety.

“It was really useful to get the views of children on the potential images and hear what they thought, what they liked and disliked about the pictures and to see them from a child’s point of view. “

A £100,000 appeal was launched in May to help buy resources for the new unit.

For further information, visit airedale-trust.nhs.uk/charity. To donate, text EDAP50 £5 to 70070 or visit justgiving.com/airedalehospitalemergencydepartmentappeal.