A new bleep system for parents who are waiting for their child to come out of an operation has been developed at King’s Mill Hospital, Sutton.

It will ensure that parents get a pager, which will bleep immediately once their child is out of theatre and ready for them.

Deputy sister on the Children’s Ward, Ward 25, Carol Hind, who has been involved in the project, explains: “In the past parents may have missed a call from the ward when their child is ready or the ward has not been able to contact them, which can be distressing for both the parents and the patient.

“The new system will ensure that parents will be bleeped as soon as their child comes out of theatre, so they will be able to be reunited as soon as possible.

“We know that having an operation at a young age can be quite a scary experience and so we wanted to look in to how we could improve the process and make things better for our patients and their families.”

Andrew and Sarah Longmead, the first family to try the new bleep system with their son, Toby, said: “It’s a really good idea. We were able to go and get a cup of tea and take a short walk around the hospital, safe in the knowledge that we would hear the bleep go off as soon as Toby was ready for us to greet him again.”

The bleep system began this week and is being run in conjunction with the ‘theatres car,’ which allows younger patients to go down to theatre in a mini electric car, taking the stress out of the situation by having some fun on the journey.

Pictured above are, from left, Danielle Woods, Rachel Barker, Carol Hind and Nicola Armstrong.