A TRIP to hospital is now less traumatic for young patients at Leighton.

A £184,000 outpatients unit specially designed for youngsters opened on Monday.

Bright and friendly, with a host of toys and games plus child safety features and mother and baby facilities, it has been designed to make visiting hospital less daunting.

The purpose built unit has been named after popular children's specialist Krishnan Chandran who retired from Leighton last year.

Its features include:

five consulting rooms

a nurse treatment and treatment preparation rooms

a play area supervised by a play specialist

a spacious patient and child waiting room

teenage waiting and games area

safety features including special radiators and electricity sockets and finger trap guards to all doors.

The unit has been funded by Mid Cheshire Hospitals with additional funding from the hospital's League of Friends who have donated more than £7,500 for play equipment and the WRVS whose £10,000 donation provided office and treatment room furniture.

" We will be putting the seal on the project with an official opening later this year, but it is appropriate that we are welcoming our first young patients to these new facilities during NHS Week, to profile the work we are doing to develop our paediatric service," said Clinical Director Dr Bob Pugh.

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