Research and Insights

Report published into inspirational health play innovations

We held our first annual Innovation in Health Play Awards this year to recognise and celebrate healthcare professionals from across the UK who have used pioneering ideas to improve children’s healthcare experiences.

Many of the inspirational entries have been published in a report which contains more details on our winner and three runners-up, as well as the work of ten other short-listed applications.

Our Health Play Innovation Awards have been designed to celebrate the inventive, resourceful, and creative ways that health professionals have been delivering better results for babies, children and young people and for the NHS by reducing anxiety and improving compliance with treatment whist improving children’s health and wellbeing.

  • Our winner was a health play specialist (Tracey Martin banner picture) at Leeds Children’ Hospital for her pioneering work tackling healthcare anxiety in children by developing a VIP PASS scheme with QR code.
  • Another runner-up was a children’s hospice for developing exciting and accessible events to allow families of children with life-limiting conditions to make memories in north Wales and Shropshire.
  • And the third runner-up was a London health play specialist (Zoe Keates, also pictured) for her work developing an interactive 3-D printed MRI model scanner which has reduced the need for general anaesthetic for children by 88 per cent at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital.

Starlight Head of Impacts and Insights, Dr Sandra Gulyurtlu, said:

“Our winner, runners-up and shortlisted applications demonstrate the immense impact play-based solutions can have across children’s healthcare. It can alleviate stress for both the child and their families and build connections which can have long-term impacts on children’s receptiveness to treatment and can even mean less invasive and risky procedures and more speedy and efficient processes for the NHS.

“Our Health Play Innovation Award has been developed to celebrate the outstanding innovations happening in the sector and the people driving them forward. Our aim is to recognise their impact and share learning and good practice. We hope that these awards will inspire others to innovate, learn and share so that together we can transform healthcare outcomes for children.”