CARING for children in hospital is not like looking after adults.

The Royal Blackburn Hospital’s paediatrics unit is home, school and a leisure centre for the children there – and staff ensure their routines are changed as little as possible.

Gone are the outdated videos and second-hand schoolbooks of the old days – youngsters can keep themselves entertained on the latest games consoles and study on top-of-the range computers.

Specialist teacher Diane Easton ensures they keep up with schoolwork in the unit’s learning room, and her motto is “no exceptions, no excuses”.

She said: “The biggest problem for ill children has always been the school work they miss out on.

“As soon as children are well enough, we do everything we can to get them in here and learning. We can deal with the whole range – right from three up to 16.”

The unit is also manned by an army of “play leaders” – but they do much more than just play. The lavish decorations all around the department have been created by the play staff working with the children, but it is during treatment that they come into their own, using fun distraction techniques to get children calmly and comfortably through all kinds of procedures.

One of the team, Janine Stott, said: “It’s a great job – you can build up a real rapport and learn what works for each child to help them through their treatment.”

For the medical staff, a job in paediatrics is also unlike any other in the hospital, with nurses, doctors and consultants needing very specialised knowledge. Every child, from newborn babies to 16-year-olds, is treated in the unit, and staff deal with everything from broken bones to meningitis.

Ward manager Sarah Caton said: “Children are usually referred here either through the emergency department or by GPs, and they can literally be in any sort of state when they come in to us.

“We have a dedicated resuscitation room designed eight years ago by the nurses here, and it’s incredibly well-equipped. A lot of very seriously ill children are stabilised there before being picked up by teams from Pendlebury in Manchester and Alder Hey in Liverpool.

“We have specialists in all different areas, but every nurse here needs to be skilled in all sorts for their day-to-day work here.

“They also have to change how they work with each patient. You certainly can’t deal with a 15-year-old boy in the same way as you would a two-year-old.

“It’s different to anywhere else in the hospital, but it’s a brilliant place to work. We have our sad times but the good times more than make up for that.”

One family from Baxenden were certainly happy delighted with the treatment. Twins Anika and Evie Morris, aged two, were born two months prematurely and spent the first weeks of their lives at the Royal Blackburn Hospital’s neo-natal intensive care unit.

They still suffer from underdeveloped lungs and a simple cold can leave them with severe breathing difficulties.

Parents Rob and Hayley had brought Evie to hospital at 3am the previous day but by teatime Anika’s breathing had also deteriorated and she joined her sister in the children’s unit.

The girls had both been placed on nebulisers to control their breathing and by the next day they were well enough to go home. Dad Rob had stayed the night in between his daughters’ beds.

He said: “They’ve just started nursery so they are picking up all sorts of bugs that are affecting their breathing. You do what you can at home, but sometimes you need the extra from the hospital. This is the second time they’ve had to come in for treatment.

“The staff have been brilliant – we’ve had everything we could ask for and the girls are doing great. It’s brilliant being able to stay here – you couldn’t have done that a few years ago.”

Hayley added: “We have another little girl and a baby on the way so it was a relief for Rob to be able to stay here while I sorted things out at home.

“We don’t need to worry about them here. It’s so easy for them to settle in. They haven’t even cried.

“You’d think in a hospital environment they would find it really difficult but now they’re better they’ve been running round the ward having a great time.”