Making a Difference: How charity Daring to Dream helps patients at University Hospital Wales

28 June 2024

Did you know that nearly half of all adults in Wales are estimated to be living with at least one longstanding illness? Of those, the lives of more than half are either somewhat or severely limited by their illness.

Daring to Dream, a charity that focuses on emotional support for adult patients, has helped transform spaces within the University Hospital Wales for the emotional wellbeing of those in our care.

So far, Daring to Dream has created multiple safe spaces for patients, their families and the staff who care for them.

Quiet Rooms in hospitals are very important spaces. They are the rooms used for difficult conversations with patients and their families and it is vital that they are comforting for those in need. To support the emotional health of patients, there are now multiple refurbished quiet rooms within the hospital within General Surgery, Critical Care, Nephrology, and Cardiology. The newest quiet room within the hospital can be found in the Department of Integrated Medicine.

Daring to Dream has recently been putting a focus on improving the emotional wellness of patients within Critical Care. The ‘Visitor’s Loo’ has been recently refurbished with improved accessibility and a folding wall seat so that distressed or frail users can sit safely whilst taking time out to calm. The restroom serves as a refuge and space to be alone and is a companion space to the Quiet and Relatives’ Rooms in Critical Care that the charity had already transformed. Senior clinicians in Critical Care have conservatively estimated the rooms will impact around 43,000 people each year.