Kensington Palace/ X still/ fair use
The Princess of Wales has opened the new Children’s Day Surgery Unit at Evelina London.
The Children’s Day Surgery Unit will allow the hospital to treat up to an additional 2,300 children a year and offers two brand-new operating theatres capable of providing one-day service to families that includes pre-surgery check=ups, operations, and recovery in the same space.
During her visit, Catherine toured the new surgical unit and met with families and staff to discuss how vital it will be to childcare moving forward.
In an exclusive interview with People magazine, Evelina London’s director of operations and improvement James O’Brien said, “She is clearly a very natural mother, and she was going out of her way to have selfies with not just the children but the parents as well. It was nice for her to sit down and spend some time with them. And she was complimentary about the artwork that was designed by the children in the building.”
The artwork on display throughout the new unit was designed in collaboration with the children in the unit, and Catherine met with some of the young people who helped create and choose what was displayed. She also took part in a ‘futuristic’ arts and crafts session, designed to mimic the existing artwork and design scheme, which is space and nature.
When officially opening the unit—which has been operational since July—Catherine was joined by two children, and could be overheard asking them, “Shall we cut this together?” So far, over 700 young people have received care from the day surgery unit.
In a post on the Evelina London website, its chief executive, Gubby Ayida, said “We were thrilled to be joined by our Royal Patron, The Princess of Wales, to officially open our Children’s Day Surgery Unit.”
Ayida continued: “It was lovely to have this recognised with The Princess of Wales today, who values the importance of having a supported and nurturing environment for children through her work with The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.”
Catherine has been patron of Evelina London since 2018.