‘They’re just as important as the medical team’: How Leeds Play Team helped Emma through hospital treatment
This team of specialist workers helped Emma feel like a ‘normal’ teenager
Having your nails painted may sound like a small thing, but for Emma Chambers, it was a welcome reminder of life outside of hospital.
At 15, Emma was spending weeks in Leeds’ Children’s Hospital as doctors tried to understand her worsening symptoms. She was eventually diagnosed with the rare digestive condition Superior Mesenteric Artery (SMA) syndrome, which caused severe pain whenever she ate.
Now 16, Emma is sharing how the hospital’s specialist Play Team helped her through months of uncertainty, as Leeds Hospitals Charity launches an appeal during Play in Healthcare Week to safeguard seven-day-a-week support for young patients.
We’re aiming to raise £40,000 - enough to fund a full year of sessions delivered by a dedicated Play Specialist, providing essential support to children across the city.
Emma told the Yorkshire Evening Post about her early memories of going into hospital: “I remember meeting Jess from the Play Team, and just by painting my nails it made my experience in the hospital a much more positive one.
“It was good to have someone there who wasn’t a doctor, who could explain what was wrong with you, and were there to listen or distract you if you needed.”
Her dad, Gary, remembers how quickly their lives changed when Emma first became unwell in November. After an initial hospital stay, she returned home in mid-December, only to be readmitted on Boxing Day. She later spent another seven-and-a-half weeks in hospital around Easter.
For Emma, the challenge was not just coping with her condition, but trying to keep up with schoolwork and prepare for her GCSEs while spending long periods away from home.
With revision often taking up much of her time on the ward, Emma said the team helped her find a balance between schoolwork and taking a break.
“Sometimes what I needed was to just have a break and relax by doing some painting or colouring,” she said.
“The Play Team were good for balancing my school work and just being in the hospital, it was a good distraction.”
Rather than treating Emma like a young child, the team recognised her interests as a teenager, finding activities that reminded her of her usual life.
Emma said: “When you’re asked what you want to do as a 15, 16-year-old, you don’t always want to colour or do those sorts of activities.
“By Jess just painting my nails, that’s what I would normally be doing on a weekend, so they adapted to what I was interested in and recognised me as a teenager.”
The support from the Play Team extended to her parents, and dad Gary says they were navigating a gruelling period.
He recalled how staff would give Emma an activity, allowing him to step away for a coffee and gather himself.
He shared: “A lot of the time in the hospital, you’re just sitting there, but you’re trying to support your child as best you can. It’s an exhausting and emotional experience.”
The team also organised special moments to lift the spirits of children on the ward, including visits from Yorkshire Cricket and Leeds Rhinos players, who arrived on the ward just before Christmas with bags of presents for the children.
Gary added: “It was a revelation for me to see that Emma could have access to all of this.
“It made such a difference to Emma to have that distraction and support.”
With backing from Leeds Hospitals Charity, the specialised Play Team has expanded to provide support seven days a week. More than 11,000 children were admitted to Leeds Children’s Hospital last year, with the team delivering an average of 338 therapeutic play sessions each week.
For Emma, that support helped her maintain a sense of normality, enabling her to sit her GCSEs, attend her prom and go on a school trip despite her hospital stays.
Gary believes the service deserves continued support, describing the team as “absolutely fantastic.”
“They’re as important as the medical team in helping you with your mental health,” he added.
Through its Play Appeal, Leeds Hospitals Charity is asking individuals and businesses to become regular donors to help sustain the service for children and families facing some of their most difficult moments.
Anyone who wants to donate can click the link here.