Brundall schoochildren open ward

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) this week welcomes pupils and staff from Brundall Primary School as they open the hospital’s new 36-bed ward, named after the Broadland village.

The new ward is home to the hospital’s low dependency unit (for patients having minor surgery leading to a stay of less then 48 hours) and increases the number of beds at NNUH to 989. The ward will be opened on Thursday February 6 by three pupils who won a school competition to paint the best pictures of a Brundall scene. The pictures will be displayed on the ward.

Brundall Primary School’s 12-strong choir will also be on hand as the three winners jointly cut the ribbon to open the new hospital ward. The choir will be singing “Dem Bones” and “Congratulations”.

All 27 wards at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital have been named after Norfolk villages and the hospital encourages close links between wards and their namesake communities.

Trust chief executive Stephen Day said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming children from Brundall Primary School to open our new ward. We are also very grateful to our primary care trust partners in the local heath service for funding this expansion.”

Headteacher Angela Stephenson said: “We are honoured to be involved in the opening of Brundall ward in Norfolk’s new hospital. In school assemblies we have considered how important it is to be healthy and fit and how grateful we are for the doctors and nurses who look after us when we are ill. The children painted pictures of Brundall that they thought recovering patients would find interesting. Perhaps some may come to see our attractive area when they are fully recovered.”