The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn Charity has launched a new fundraising appeal to raise £3,500 to maintain its secure video messaging platform, vCreate, for another year. The service allows hospital staff to send regular updates, photos, and videos to parents when they cannot be at their baby's bedside.
How the Platform Helps Families
Periods of separation can be incredibly difficult for parents, but the technology helps bridge that gap during critical times. The platform also allows grandparents and siblings to stay involved, while providing helpful advice and multi-language support. Hospital staff say the service has become a vital part of daily care on the unit and helps lower anxiety for stressed families.
Bethia Morris, neonatal intensive care unit ward manager, said: “VCreate is something we chose to have on NICU because it was implemented during COVID-19. It has become really embedded in our unit and our day-to-day practice. It’s a really safe and secure way of connecting families with their babies. We can send families video updates and photos of their babies while they’re on the unit.”
Parent Testimonial
Former user Laura Cooper shared her experience: “We were introduced to vCreate as soon as Rosie was born. She was born at 25 weeks, and we immediately knew we would be in for the long haul, approximately three to four months on NICU. It was important we were introduced to it very early on because whilst I needed to rest and recuperate, I had that peace of mind that I could go and do so and still be updated and kept in the loop. It really is hour by hour instead of day by day and it’s really lovely.”
She added: “It’s become a part of our morning routine. When you get sent messages from vCreate, you get an email notification, and our children would ask first thing in the morning ‘have we heard anything from Rosie today?’ We’d open up the message together; everyone would gather round and have a look at what Rosie’s been doing overnight. Even if it’s just a little photo of her saying ‘good morning, everybody’ or ‘goodnight, everybody’, it kept everyone involved and not feeling left out.”
How to Support the Appeal
Members of the public can support the appeal by making a donation online. To make a donation, please visit www.justgiving.com/campaign/qehkl-never-far-away. The appeal is based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, Norfolk.
