Giggle Doctor visits for children in hospital

Thank you for choosing to support us through GlobalGiving. Last year, our Giggle Doctors visited over 33,000 children in 21 hospitals, 3 hospices and 2 specialist care centres across England. Your support helped make this possible. 

We recently received this lovely feedback from a parent that I thought I would share with you, to help illustrate how your funding makes a difference:

“Last week my daughter was admitted to our local hospital as her legs stopped working after a minor car crash. It was very worrying and our local hospital transferred us to Evelina Hospital for examination. Dr Easy Peasy visited us - her timing couldn't have been any better. We had literally just arrived and were feeling very sad for the other children on the ward and very sorry for ourselves. My daughter is fourteen and not wanting to sound rude, we didn’t really want Dr Easy Peasy to stop at our bed. Well, Dr Easy Peasy was exactly what we needed, I cannot put into words what she did for us. She was absolutely fantastic and we will never forget her… Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Our Giggle Doctor visits aim to:

• Reduce distress and anxiety
• Increase opportunities for play in the healthcare environment
• Improve wellbeing

Each interaction is tailored to the child and the Giggle Doctor visits are designed to provide whatever the child needs at the time, whether it’s a joke, a song or simply companionship. 

"You only have to look around the wards when the Giggle Doctors are here to see how much the children enjoy the visits. Lots of happy, smiling children, which is what you want to see when a child is in hospital. We all know hospitals can be frightening and boring places for children, however, that is not the case when the Giggle Doctors are around. The children are relaxed, happy and excited. The perfect prescription for sick children”. Hospital Play Coordinator

Measuring the impact of your support

We work hard to develop the amount and range of feedback we collect to measure the charity’s impact and we are committed to providing the best possible service that we can. Our online survey is open for feedback from parents and guardians all year round. We also collect feedback from the hospital staff and parents during our Impact Focus Days. Here are some of the results:

• 100% of parents/guardians believed that the Giggle Doctors had a positive effect on their child
• 71% of parents/guardians believed that Giggle Doctors reduced stress and anxiety for their children whilst in hospital.
• 75% of parents/guardians believed that the Giggle Doctors increased opportunities for play in hospital. 

“You guys are amazing. My daughter loved your Giggle Doctors on the wards whilst fighting her battle with cancer. Please keep doing what you do.” Parent

“We love Dr Silly Dovetail. Thank you for the laughs and giggles, you made the tough times easier”. Parent

How your support helped children like Max

At two years old Max was diagnosed with cancer. What followed was over three years of intensive chemotherapy. Today thankfully Max’s condition has improved, although he still has to attend regular hospital appointments for check-ups. Max’s Mum told us:

“When Max was younger he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Max pretty much grew up in hospital - he was two when he was first diagnosed and nearly six by the time his treatment finished. Max has had over three years worth of chemotherapy and steroids. 

It was just after Max was diagnosed when he met the Giggle Doctors for the first time. Max was receiving treatment for an infection and a Giggle Doctor came into his ward and blew bubbles that wouldn’t burst. Max thought it was the best thing ever - he couldn’t believe that they wouldn’t burst! He had been very quiet and sullen for days and the visit brought him out of himself a little bit. 

Since then, Max has seen the Giggle Doctors lots of times. As a parent with a child in hospital, you are constantly trying to find ways to keep your child amused and happy; which can be really tough. Then the Giggle Doctors visit and for that moment in time you can just sit back and see that your child is happy. It’s taking their mind off of what they are waiting to do and face, whether that be a test, a scan, or seeing a doctor. It alleviates the worry for that little while.” 

Thank you

Our 2017-2019 strategy is to increase the number of children we are able to visit from 33,000 children a year in 2017 to 43,500 children a year by the end of 2019. Your support has helped us to work towards this goal. 

We are very grateful for your support which has made such a significant difference for so many sick and disabled children at a time when they need it most. Thank you so much. 

If you have any questions or would like to talk further about our work, please feel free to get in touch.