The coronavirus outbreak has heightened the risk babies and children with Cystic Fibrosis, who already spend much of their time in isolation, face every single day.

Thanks to your generous donations we have funded iPads for wards and departments across Leeds Children’s Hospital.

We recently provided two iPads to help the Clinical Nurse Specialist team on the Children’s Cystic Fibrosis and Respiratory Unit at Leeds Children’s Hospital continue to support young patients and their families.

Lesley MacKenzie, Clinical Nurse Specialist on the ward says remote working has been a big adjustment for her team, “Under normal circumstances we spend most of our time on the ward with patients and families, or out and about providing support in the local community, so the iPads have really helped us adapt to working from home.”

Aaron is one of the young Cystic Fibrosis patients who has benefitted from the charity funded iPads. He also has autism and can get very nervous and anxious when he comes to hospital and using the iPad has helped him build his independence and become more comfortable with his treatments.

Lesley says, “Aaron enjoys seeing videos on YouTube explaining his treatments and playing games while he is waiting. Our patients are isolated from everyone during the clinic appointments, so keeping Aaron entertained is important and he loves using it when he comes to visit!”

When they came resume regular home visits, Lesley and her team are keen to provide educational support to families. The iPads will mean staff can put together interactive quizzes to assess the child and parents’ knowledge.

Lesley has seen first-hand the difference these iPads make, “The families of children with Cystic Fibrosis are feeling extremely vulnerable at this time and many are shielding at home. Having the iPads is reassuring for parents, knowing that we can continue to provide remote support to their whole family.”