At Youth Council we have been involved in:

- Having a say about services which affect young people

- Learning about careers, work experience and volunteering opportunities

- Visiting the medical simulation centre.

- Organising young people events like ‘My Hospital My Say’

- Producing a regular newsletter

- Mystery shopping and testing hospital services

Plus much more!

We have previously had two Youth Council members who were elected as Governors of

the hospital and sat on the Council of Governors. These Governors were elected by

young members like you.

We hope that you enjoy reading our newsletter! As young people in the Youth Council

we have produced it for young people like you!

Inside this issue:

Who we are... 1

Youth council 2

Finding out about

medicine

2

Creating photos

about Transition

3

A tour around the

redevelopment

3

What next? 4

Spring 2014

Who are the Youth Council? We are a fun, pro-active group aged between 11 and 21, and we meet monthly to

discuss our ideas and things we would like to change in the Bristol hospitals. These

hospitals include the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol Dental Hospital, the BRI,

Bristol Eye Hospital, and St Michaels Hospital.

We aim to listen to the young voices of the south west and help to improve the services

available for young people.

Giving children and young people a voice in their hospitals

Supported by

the Grand

Appeal.

®Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal. Registered Charity No.

1043603 ©/TM Aardman/Wallace & Gromit Ltd 2012

Page 2

“a brilliant

opportunity to

make new,

and

wonderful

friends, that

all had a

passion for

patient care’’

Studying Medicine - Poppy Escritt

On Thursday 19th September a group of about 12 Youth Council members, who hope to study medicine in

the future, met a current medical student who is involved with the admissions process at Bristol University.

He was able to give us a really useful insight into life as a medical student and all the options available. For

example, I didn’t realise before his talk that there are such variations in course layout amongst medical

schools; such as whether they begin seeing patients in the 1st year, or 3rd or 4th year; and am now looking

closely at this when considering university options. He also told us to ask the important question when

considering universities of: ‘do I want to be here for 5 or more years’. Which sounds very obvious, but I think

can so easily be forgotten while thinking about everything else, and

is especially important for a medic to consider as it is such a long

degree. He also gave us many tips for our personal statements,

stressing the importance of reflection on what we have done, and

honesty. We also discussed the interview and how important it is to

go prepared and be yourself - even suggested practising in front of

the mirror! Most of his advice was very simple but so important. It

was very useful to get all of this knowledge from someone who has

actually been through the process, and who is involved in

admissions, so has a clear idea of what medical schools are looking

for in an applicant.

What we did at Youth Council - Zemzem Sonmez

Many people are always curious about what actually happens in a youth council meeting, and I would

like to share my experience of my first of what I hope to be many productive, enjoyable evenings.

During our very first youth council meeting, a social activity was planned at the start. We all were

given bingo cards, the aim being to talk to everyone there and have people sign off some weird

and wonderful things that they had done or had, such as; shoes without laces, people who had

previously met with someone famous, and so on. This was a really great activity as the majority of us

were all brand new, including myself. This allowed us to talk and interact with everyone there including the

organising staff and find out a bit more about everyone, and was also a brilliant opportunity to make new,

and wonderful friends, that all had a passion for patient care, and other similar interests such as working

with the hospital or hospital related ideals in the future.

Afterwards we carried on to the main body of our meeting which was to come up with ideas for several

different topics, we were randomly split into groups of 4-5, this helped us all talk with more depth with

people that we would not necessarily have had the chance to speak

too.

The topics were quite diverse ranging from the care and hospitality

received at the hospital to what had previously been done at the youth

council and what the best activities we thought were. We were all then

given £1,500 (sadly, not of real money) to divide and place on activities

we think it is important for the youth council to focus on. The events

were then tallied up to be used to help plan what future events the

youth council want to participate in and expand on. I found it to be a

very enjoyable day, where despite being nervous about going alone to

it, I found that it was a very rewarding experience, as I now have met

some very extraordinary and brilliant people and look forward to the

various activities planned in the bright future with the youth council.

Bravo to the youth council!

Shout Out!

Page 3 Creating photos for the transition website -

Janet Msumba and Jane Msumba

We had a really good time brainstorming ideas with professionals in the hospital on how the

layout of the new website for cardiac children’s transition should be. It really made us, as part

of the youth council feel valued and grown up, particularly more so as it was our ideas that

would be considered for development and implementation. We also contributed our ideas on

the content and physical appearance of the questionnaires the children would complete for

their appointments. We looked at the proposal of the website, followed by a discussion over

lunch (which was kindly provided for us) on the types of photos we would want to appear on

the website. Later, we then went on a walk around the local area, having the fun of posing for

some fantastic photos in various places such as the Christmas steps, Laser Quest, St. James

Park and several others. Overall, it was a very worthwhile experience of which helped widen

our understanding of the planning, effort and work that goes on in the development of

websites in the hospital. It was also one of the many great opportunities for us as a youth

council to get to know each other better.

As a member of the Youth Council, we had the exciting opportunity to tour a major £150 million pound redevelopment

and extension of the hospital in Bristol. The scheme includes the expansion and development of three parts of the

estate - the Bristol Haematology & Oncology Centre, the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and the redevelopment of

the Bristol Royal Infirmary. This is very recent and the build is not due to finish yet, but I look forward to seeing the

finished redevelopments.

On the day of the tour, we met some of the managers of the projects, put on boots, builder’s hats and eye protection;

then we were set and ready to go. Among other things we saw the extension for the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

My first thought was about how big and spacious it was. My highlights from the tour were finding out about new

technology and how a 9 tonne 3T MRI machine costing £3.5 million pounds got transported and put into place. The

building work was more difficult than I thought it was. There are many pipes and vast systems which are hidden when

the ceiling is put in. I was much more appreciative of the work and planning that have gone into the extensions.

The new builds have more rooms than bed bays (2-4 person bays).

There are pros to having more rooms such as privacy and more space,

but its harder for staff to observe. They have tried to tackle this

problem by having rooms with large windows which will allow nurses to

look in as they walk past to check on the patient. There is a lot of good

change such as different lifts for passengers and for food which should

make the hospital system run better. There is also an exciting new

area for young people with cancer which includes social areas, Wi-Fi

and games to play.

In the state of the art theatres, the new technology is amazing, such as

the ‘Bi plane’ which scans the heart live during surgery. There is also

astounding brain lab technology. It was fascinating to talk to the expert

builders who have to put together new theatres, as they will be the

operating areas for very vulnerable patients. I found out about how

infections are prevented by having a cloud of high air pressure around

the operating area. Due to diffusion, this would force infections away

from the patient. Hopefully we will be able to tour again before it is finished because I would love to see the progress. I

really enjoyed touring the builds and extension and I cannot wait to see it all finished.

A tour around the redevelopment - Camilla Lee

Shout Out!

How to get in touch with your Youth Council....

Contact the Young Persons Involvement Worker (Sara Reynolds) for more

information or to find out how to join:

Phone: 0117 342 8158

Email: sara.reynolds@UHBristol.nhs.uk

Web: www.uhbristol.nhs.uk/about-us/membership/youth-council/

Who’s who?

Sara, Maria and Lisa help the Youth Council members to be involved in the hospitals and to have fun!

Sara Reynolds is the Young Persons Involvement Worker, Maria Fox is the Membership Manager and Lisa Smith is

the LIAISE Officer

Sara Maria Lisa

‘I really enjoy coming to the

Youth Council as I like meeting

people—I have lots of fun!’ -

Kinga Drozd

Supported by

the Grand

Appeal.

Here are some of the photos we created for the Transition Website:

®Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal. Registered Charity No.

1043603 ©/TM Aardman/Wallace & Gromit Ltd 2012

Breaking News

The Council of Governors has approved the

decision to have two young people on the Board

of Governors. More news to follow ….