Walk The Wards videos welcome children and young people to hospital

The 0-25 Cancer Services East Midlands are specialist cancer services for children, teenagers and young people in the East Midlands. The website provides information for patients, parents, carers and professionals.

Alongside developing the website, Volute were commissioned to create a video series called ‘Walk the Wards’. These films are for patients, parents and carers who are coming to hospital for cancer treatment for the first time.

Each video features one of the nurses speaking to the audience about getting to the hospital and what facilities are available, before taking you on a walk from the main entrance to the ward.

Once inside, viewers are shown patient rooms, reception areas, playrooms, and the friendly team of staff ready to provide support.

Challenge

The website provides information on a huge range of topics related to cancer, but the 0-25 team felt that adding a personal touch would help to welcome patients feel more at ease and make their first visit to the hospital a more comfortable experience. To achieve this, they asked us to create a series of videos that would both welcome patients and guide them to the ward. The films were designed to be appropriate for young people aged 0–25, while also being inclusive and reassuring for the family members accompanying them.
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Sector:

Services we provided:

  • Nurse presenting
  • Ward staff waving
  • Northampton entrance
  • Nurse in playroom
  • Nurse by reception
  • Welcome to the playroom

Development

Throughout the duration of this project, we collaborated with a wide range of people from each hospital, including nurses, doctors and members of each communications team. We began by drafting a script, which was refined several times with input from the 0-25 team.

On the morning of each shoot, the nurses presenting were able to rehearse speaking to camera, ensuring the script sounded natural. Although presenting on camera can be daunting for those without filming experience, every nurse did an excellent job of guiding viewers around the hospital and sharing key information.

As filming in hospitals can be complicated, it was important to work closely with the communications team for each hospital during planning and on the day of each shoot. Their guidance on filming restrictions helped us decide which shots to capture, such as the continuous walk-throughs to each ward entrance. On filming days, they also liaised with staff and security to ensure everything ran smoothly.

When it came to editing, the preparation and clear structure from filming meant the first cut of the video came together quickly. As a final touch, we added some high quality animations in the form of branding, title screens and overlays. These not only tied the videos together visually but also helped highlight key sections and provide viewers with useful additional information.

Animation of an arrow moving across a computer screen

The Results

All of the Walk The Wards videos were very well received, with those involved in the filming process praising their quality. Each video has now been added to the 0-25 Cancer Services website, and the site structure has since been adjusted to make each video more prominent to allow their audiences to more easily find and watch them. The friendly, informative videos now welcome patients and their families to the hospital, helping to make their first visit a little bit easier.