Starlight was delighted to meet so many parliamentarians at our Drop-In event at Portcullis House, Westminster.
Policy
Ministers, MPs and Peers learn more about therapeutic health play
We shared our mission to put play at the heart of every child's healthcare experience to reduce avoidable trauma and the engagement from Ministers, MPs and Peers was incredibly high, with many offers of support.
Our Youth Panel graduate Annika, current youth panel member McKenzie and one of our ambassadors Sfiyah, were able to talk directly to 40 parliamentarians from across parties about their experiences in hospital and how therapeutic play helped them cope with procedures and treatments.
Experts explain why it matters
At the event, hosted by Alistair Strathern MP, health play specialists from his constituency - Lister Hospital in Hertfordshire - and Starlight were also able to explain why their skills matter and how the play workforce needs to be supported within the NHS with resources - including staff, training and materials - to ensure services are available to more children. They also highlighted the economic benefits of therapeutic play - how it can save NHS staff time and money with shorter, less involved appointments, result in less test and procedure cancellations and better engagement with healthcare in the future - and, how it can reduce stress for patient's families and staff too.
Sfiyah with her MP Jessica Morden
Visitors included Ministers Stephanie Peacock (banner image), and Sir Stephen Timms, Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care Dr Caroline Johnson and MPs Tom Hayes, Sadik Al-Hassan, Naz Shah, Daniel Aldridge, Rupa Huq, Shokat Adam, Kaite Fisher, Anna Sabine (pictured), Jess Asato, and Lord Graham Evans, Baroness Hilary Cass (pictured) and Dame Caroline Dinenage. Representatives from the Children’s Commissioner’s office also attended.
We look forward to working with the government to improve outcomes and provide solutions to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.