Year of events will mark children’s hospital’s 165th year

Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind. Photo: NNUH (Image: NNUH)

The children's hospital admitted its first inpatients on April 3, 1854 thanks to the generosity and goodwill of Swedish opera singer, Jenny Lind.

It was the second such hospital to open in the UK, with Great Ormond Street Hospital having opened only two years earlier.

The first celebratory event will be an evening of music and talks from 6pm to 9pm on Wednesday, April 3.

Speakers at the event include retired lecturer in children's nursing, Bruce Lindsay, who has written a history of The Jenny Lind Children's Hospital, plus the Richard England, consultant paediatric surgeon at the hospital, who said: 'Today, we provide a first class service for sick children and their families carrying on the good work enabled by Jenny Lind all those years ago.'

The modern Jenny Lind Children's Hospital provides emergency and specialist care to children and young people from Norwich, Norfolk, and often from further afield too.

There is a large team of experts including medical, surgical, community and neonatal consultants, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietetics, speech and language therapist, play specialists, psychologist and other professionals.

This means the Jenny Lind can provide high quality multidisciplinary care from birth to adulthood for children and young people with a wide range of medical and surgical problems, whether these are long term or emergency presentations.

Louise Cook, fundraising manager at NNUH, said: 'The local community has a long record of supporting the Jenny Lind Children's Hospital and have a busy year ahead with fundraising activities to add those extras which fall outside the remit of the NHS.'

The first event, which is free, will be held in the East Atrium and Benjamin Gooch Lecture Theatre at the NNUH.

For more information, email communications@nnuh.nhs,uk or visit bit.ly/JennyLind165