Introducing The Grand Appeal’s Patient Hotel

As the first purpose-designed Patient Hotel for children in the UK, this Grand Appeal project is set to provide the benchmark for a new generation of health facilities for patients and their families at Bristol Children’s Hospital.

The Grand Appeal’s Patient Hotel will provide 12 bedrooms with en-suite facilities for children and their parents in a home-from-home environment. The Patient Hotel will also provide a gym and therapy area to allow patients to continue their rehabilitation, as well as a purpose-designed kitchen to allow specialist dietary education for patients with specific conditions. Specially designed gardens will offer space for relaxation and rehabilitation in a landscaped and terraced tree-lined garden adjacent to the Patient Hotel. 

The emphasis will be on providing residential facilities to allow children to leave the clinical environment of the hospital building once their intensive treatment and care is coming to an end. By offering a home-away-from-home facility for young patients to stay with their families, the new Patient Hotel will enable patients to continue their therapy and rehabilitation thereby setting a new standard in care, comfort, and support – transforming the lives of patients and their families at Bristol Children’s Hospital.

The Patient Hotel will be co-located with Cots for Tots House – just a few minutes’ walk from Bristol Children’s Hospital. 

The submission of the planning application is the first critical milestone in this new development. 

We’ve appointed Bath-based Inspire Architects, led by our project lead, Ray Tyner, to realise our vision for this project.

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A new era for children’s healthcare

The Patient Hotel represents a new approach to children’s healthcare. Located just a few minutes walk from Bristol Children’s Hospital, this facility will offer 12 ensuite bedrooms designed to accommodate patients, their parents, and siblings in a comfortable, non-clinical environment. Each room will be meticulously designed for children who are well enough not to need round-the-clock care but still require rehabilitation and therapy, providing a “home-from-home” atmosphere without the beeps and alarms typical of hospital wards.

Most importantly, it will provide a homely environment for patients to be with their families after long and intensive treatment in hospital in an environment where they can stay in a room with their family and continue to receive therapy and rehabilitation from the expert staff from Bristol Children’s Hospital on site. 

The Patient Hotel will be suitable for patients from Bristol Children’s Hospital who will continue to need rehabilitation after brain surgery or injury; children with lifelong medical conditions such as cystic fibrosis; children who need physiotherapy following major surgery; and children treated for chronic inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Currently, patients stay in hospital, some for many months at a time, while they continue to receive therapy and rehabilitation. In this ground-breaking new development, the Patient Hotel will offer patients and their families a new solution—one that will allow them to continue their therapy while staying with their parents in a home-from-home environment close to the hospital.

Support under one roof

The Patient Hotel is more than just a place to stay. It will offer home-from-home facilities including a large communal kitchen, lounge and relaxation areas and laundry facilities. A therapy and gym space for rehabilitation will be integrated into the development, with a bespoke kitchen managed by specialist dieticians from Bristol Children’s Hospital.

The landscaped gardens will offer a serene space for relaxation and recovery, promoting overall well-being and healing. Having access to purpose-designed, restorative gardens is often found to offset stress and promote a positive outlook helping to make families feel more engaged and comfortable with their surroundings. 

The Patient Hotel has been purposely designed to inspire, uplift and comfort young patients and their families. Given that the style and culture of a building influences moods and well-being, the Patient Hotel has been designed for families with a relaxed and familiar residential style with attractive tree-lined landscaped gardens deliberately to create a warm and welcoming vista from the moment they approach the building on the next stage of their healthcare journey.

Improving patient experience

Leaving an acute hospital environment after treatment for a serious illness or accident can be traumatic. For some, often those who live hundreds of miles away, it can be a daunting and life-changing experience. The Patient Hotel will have a personal touch. There will be no wards, no alarm bells, no constant beeping from monitoring equipment. By accommodating patients who are ready to leave hospital but still require daily therapy and rehabilitation, the development will be step closer to home for patients and their families. 

The Grand Appeal will provide family support to help patients and families readjust to life after treatment in hospital, and families will be able to enjoy shared areas to increase social contact, promote social cohesion and bring together social and generational groups to improve their quality of life.

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Trailblazing partnerships

The capital costs and the ongoing revenue costs for the Patient Hotel are being funded by The Grand Appeal.

Thanks to an innovative partnership with Jingle Jam, the lead funder of the project, nearly £2 million has been raised towards the capital costs to date. In recognition of this pioneering collaboration, The Grand Appeal’s Patient Hotel will be named Jingle Jam Building. 

The ongoing revenue costs of the Patient Hotel will be met by The Grand Appeal, offering free accommodation to patients and their families around the clock, 365 days a year.

Initial estimates indicate that the value of the Patient Hotel could be over £1 million per annum and help to ease financial pressures on the NHS through the nearly 30-year partnership between The Grand Appeal and Bristol Children’s Hospital. 

The Patient Hotel will not only provide 12 new en-suite bedrooms for patients and their parents as a step closer to going home, it will also allow Bristol Children’s Hospital to re-allocate 12 inpatient beds within the hospital for emergency admissions or to help to manage waiting lists.  This transformational new building will create the opportunity for Bristol Children’s Hospital to allocate and re-provide 24 beds in total for patients who need treatment at the children’s hospital or rehabilitation in our Patient Hotel.

Supporting Bristol Children’s Hospital every step of the way

Through The Grand Appeal’s unique nearly 30-year trailblazing partnership with Aardman Animations, the Appeal has funded some of the most advanced medical equipment at Bristol Children’s Hospital, and funds some of the most pioneering medical research into childhood health. Separately, The Grand Appeal runs three family accommodation houses and employs specialist support staff who work on the ground in the hospital to ensure every aspect of hospital life is centred on the wellbeing of the young patients and their families. It also works with the hospital to create a child-friendly environment and a programme of arts, music and play therapies to ensure the very best patient experience. 

The creation of The Grand Appeal’s new Patient Hotel is the latest development in the pioneering partnership between The Appeal, Aardman Animations and Bristol Children’s Hospital. 

The Patient Hotel, purpose-designed for patients and families, will offer a sanctuary where parents can stay with their children in a comfortable welcoming environment, providing the comfort and stability that are crucial to a child’s care and recovery.

The building itself has been thoughtfully designed to uplift and comfort young patients and their families following long or repeat stays in hospital. From the moment they step into the tree-lined, landscaped gardens, they are welcomed into a homely environment, free from the constant noise and stress of a hospital ward, patients will be able to take the next steps of their recovery surrounded by the love and support of their family. This nurturing setting not only aids the recovery process but also helps families regain a sense of normality, building confidence as they transition back to everyday life.

Transforming lives across the South West and South Wales

Bristol Children’s Hospital is a national centre of excellence. It treats over 100,000 patients each year from across the entire South West and South Wales region and is home to some of the most exciting advancements in global paediatric healthcare. Babies, children and young adults with highly complex medical conditions – from rare genetic disorders, neurological conditions and congenital heart disease to traumatic injuries, cancer and kidney disease – are cared for around the clock by leaders in their respective fields. Just like Bristol, the hospital is a hub of innovation, where these experts pave the way for sick children every day through a vast network of research projects with international impact.

The children’s hospital in Bristol covers the largest geographical area of any children’s hospital in England, and as such, the Patient Hotel will offer a unique solution to the logistical and emotional challenges of long-term medical therapy and rehabilitation far from home.  It takes away the need for families to face the daunting prospect of extended hospital stays far from home, providing a serene and homely environment that supports the entire family’s well-being. By enabling families to stay together, the Patient Hotel not only alleviates the stress of separation but may also enhance the healing process, offering the opportunity for children to recover more quickly alongside their parents in a non-clinical environment.

The Patient Hotel is the latest project in the near 30-year history of The Grand Appeal supporting Bristol Children’s Hospital. This Patient Hotel development presents Bristol with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform the provision of facilities for babies and children aged 0 to 18 from throughout Bristol, the South West region and South Wales. It will usher in a new generation of public-private sector partnerships to deliver the very best outcomes for young patients alongside the NHS and the children’s hospital in Bristol.