Hoard of ducks invade hospital

A hoard of knitted ducks invaded Dorset County Hospital this summer – and they had an important message.

The Little Yellow Duck Project was taken on by the Renal Dialysis department at the hospital in efforts to raise awareness of organ donation, as well as keeping their patients upbeat and positive.

Linda Woodsford, Deputy Sister at the Haemodialysis Unit, said: “Our patients are here three times a week. Dialysis takes a lot out of their personal and social lives so we organise all kinds of things here to keep them positive and motivated.

“We asked our patients to knit the ducks and name them and then our staff would take and place them somewhere in the hospital ready for someone to find.”

The ducks were placed all around the hospital, from outside the Trust Headquarters to hidden in the mane of the hospital’s horse.

The Little Yellow Duck Project is a global initiative highlighting the life-saving random acts of kindness of blood, bone marrow and organ and tissue donation.

However, for the renal department there was an extra message.

Sister Woodsford said: “This project was also about letting people know we are here. We asked people who found the ducks to guess what unit made them. Out of all the ducks no one guessed correctly. The unit is a bit out of it and we often feel we are forgotten about, so this was our way of saying we are here, come and say hello.

“We also like to as much as we can to keep our patients positive, as well as our staff. We also had some really positive comments from the people who found the ducks.”

The Renal Dialysis department is located on the ground floor of the hospital in the South Wing, near to the Pharmacy.

For more information about the Little Yellow Duck Project, visit thelittleyellowduckproject.org

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