Portsmouth pupils given tour of minor injury unit

Pupils from Meon Infant School were given a tour of St Mary’s Treatment Centre, in Milton, and were shown how X-ray machines work and how to wash their hands properly. The visit was organised by the hospital and was enjoyed by the Year R youngsters. Joseph Sykes, aged four, said: ‘It was really good seeing the equipment doctors use and guessing how many bones were in our arms. ‘We learnt how to wash our hands to get rid of bugs. ‘It was a fun visit.’ Fellow pupil Kendall Loughton-Edwards agreed. He enjoyed using an ultra-violet light and specialised cream to see how clean his hands were. The four-year-old said: ‘It was lots of fun looking at the hospital. ‘I looked at both my hands under the light and then washed them to get them clean.’ During the visit, the pupils were given a tour of the children’s walk-in centre and were shown a skeleton model. They also got to meet staff. Ronnie Akan, aged four, enjoyed seeing the skeleton while Isabella Coyne, five, enjoyed seeing the X-ray. She said: ‘It showed us bones to see if they were broken.’ The school was invited to St Mary’s Treatment Centre by Jason White, from Care UK which runs the unit. He said he had organised similar visits in Southampton and they worked well. ‘The children seem to get a lot out of it,’ he said. ‘Staff enjoy doing it as well, teaching the kids what they do and what we have on offer here. ‘We decided to do the hand washing because that is something children should be learning from a young age and the X-ray activities are always interesting. ‘We also decided to do a tour of the department so if they ever have to come here with a minor injury, they won’t be anxious.’ Headteacher of Meon Infant School Lynda Daish said the pupils had an entertaining and educational visit. ‘The children loved the skeleton and the tour around the Minor Injury Unit,’ she said. ‘We are very happy to be working with the team at the centre on teaching children valuable, life-long lessons in an enjoyable way.’