Oncology Outpatient Support

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Distraction makes things better

Oncology Outpatient Support helps families when they need it most, with our volunteers there to entertain and support children prior to and during medical procedures in the Oncology Outpatient department.

The Oncology Outpatient volunteers spend time with patients and their siblings, distracting and entertaining them before and during treatment. This comfort and support goes a long way to help the kids through what can be an intimidating, scary and sometimes painful experience.

The volunteers do whatever they can to make kids laugh and smile and take their mind off their treatment, something that can help change a patient’s mindset and mentally prepare them for a procedure.

Patients and their families can sometimes be in the waiting room for long periods of time and having dedicated volunteers to entertain the children eases the stress on parents and families. We know how worrying and draining the hospital experience can be for parents, so our volunteers are there to support parents and carers just as much as they are there to support the kids.

Joel’s Story

When Joel was one year old, he was diagnosed with MPS1 Hurler Syndrome. Over the past few years, Joel and his family have braved multiple treatments which has meant they spend large periods of time in the hospital.

Joel’s mother, Colleen, was blown away by the Oncology Outpatient Support volunteers and how much of a difference it made to Joel’s visits.

“Our appointments always coincide on Tuesdays – he just loves it, when he gets out of the lift, he just runs straight over to the tables where the volunteers are.

“He loves interacting with the volunteers that are there, they are just always so welcoming.

“He’ll get to play boardgames or with playdough and Lego, do some colouring in; they even chase him around the ward – which he loves.

“For any parent who has children going through something like this, the volunteers are so helpful because they take his mind off upcoming procedures or treatments.

“It is nice just to see him be a kid and just forget about things.

“On my end, it also really helps knowing that I can take that time to breathe, because the volunteers have got him completely entertained.

“We are still regular visitors at the hospital, so knowing that this service is available to me and to Joel makes a huge difference to our medical experience – it makes it fun for him, which is priceless.”