Strathern champions the power of play at Lister Hospital

Alistair Strathern MP visited Lister Hospital on Wednesday (30^th July) to witness first-hand their pioneering work to support children’s wellbeing through play.

Joined by Play Health Specialists, NHS paediatric nurses, and the charity Starlight, Mr. Strathern toured the hospital’s innovative child-focused facilities - including a dedicated playground, a calming sensory room, and safe spaces designed with young patients in mind. Mobile trolleys filled with toys are also used to transform clinical areas into more welcoming, playful environments.

Lister Hospital has gone above and beyond in championing the power of play in healthcare, ensuring that children feel supported, safe, and seen during their time in hospital. Evidence shows that embedding play into paediatric healthcare helps reduce anxiety, pain, and trauma during treatment. It speeds up procedures, and reduces reliance on sedation, resulting in smoother experiences for children.

Strathern has been working with Starlight, a national charity focused on the importance of therapeutic play. He recently convened a panel of children, experts and practitioners in Parliament to highlight the impact of play therapy in improving outcomes for children in the NHS. With the NHS having now published a toolkit to support therapeutic play provision, Strathern will be working with Starlight to run a campaign over autumn to drive up access to provision like that seen at the Lister across the country. 

His visit takes place alongside Labour’s broader NHS agenda, including the implementation of the NHS 10-Year Plan and the Government’s promise to raise the healthiest generation of children ever. Central to this is embedding play-based care into healthcare services across the country to prevent trauma and improve clinical outcomes.

Commenting, Alistair Strathern MP said:

“Lister are leading the way in play, and it was incredibly moving to see the impact that staff and these brilliant facilities are having on young patients.

“Hospitals can be frightening places for adults - let alone children - and too often, healthcare settings are only designed with adults in mind causing unnecessary stress and trauma for young people.

“I’m so pleased that Lister Hospital is showing what’s possible. By using the NHS Play Toolkit developed by Starlight, their approach can be replicated across the country to help make the all our health settings more child-friendly and truly centred around the needs of every patient.”

Christina Moore, Health Play Specialist at East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust said:

“It was great to welcome Alistair Strathern and Starlight to Lister Hospital to visit our play specialist service.

"Play enables us to support our young patients and service users during their hospital journey through distraction, preparation and normalising situations that often might be worrying and upsetting to some. It is such a powerful tool that enables our patients to have a voice."

Adrian Voce, Head of Public Affairs at Starlight said:"No child should have to experience trauma as part of their healthcare. The team at Lister show how to minimise this risk, using the simple power of play. We call now on the government and the NHS to do what it can to extend this important service to all children”

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