Bella’s story

15-year-old Bella Hancox, from Northfield, and her mum, Hazel, are familiar faces in our Emergency Department (ED).

Bella was born with cerebral palsy, a neurological condition which affects her movement, motor skills and speech. Until recently, Bella and her family managed her condition at home and though she used a wheelchair, she was able to lead a full life. However, in 2023, Bella began experiencing debilitating chronic pain.

Hazel brought Bella to our ED and she had the first of many admissions to bring her pain under control with medication. Doctors determined Bella’s pain was unexplained and unrelated to her cerebral palsy. Unfortunately, just three weeks after her first stay in hospital, the pain flared up again and Hazel brought her straight back.

This has been the cycle Bella and her family have been in ever since, so they’ve grown accustomed to our ED, but visiting hasn’t got any easier.

Bella said: “As well as my cerebral palsy, I have autism and I can find the ED really overstimulating – especially when it’s busy and there’s lots of noise and bright lights – and because the waiting room is such a small space, there’s no way to get away from other patients.

“I’ve felt quite embarrassed before, because sometimes my pain makes me vomit and even faint, and it’s not nice for other people seeing me go through that or not have any privacy.”

Plans for the new ED area include a larger waiting room, meaning families won’t be cramped next to each other, and a new sensory room will provide a quiet and calming space for our neurodiverse patients.

More recently Bella has been fitted with a central line to help her receive nutrition because her chronic pain means she’s unable to eat. This makes her more prone to infection, so as a result, our ED staff make every effort to ensure Bella is seen straight away, but the department’s lack of space still affects the family.

Hazel said: “Even when Bella doesn’t have to wait, the Emergency Department is still difficult to navigate with a wheelchair. It’s tricky to get by without moving things and on previous occasions, other families who arrived before us have had to be moved to other spaces to accommodate us, which just feels quite embarrassing. Having beds that offer more space around us will feel like a massive improvement.”

As part of the transformation, the department will have a new resuscitation area, featuring three larger bays with more space to move around.

Bella and Hazel are really pleased these changes are being made. Hazel said: “It’s great that the hospital has really thought about patients and their needs when designing the new Emergency Department. We know we’ll need to use it again in the future, and while we can’t change that, the experience should hopefully be nicer and calmer for Bella.”