Youth Forum

Would you like to improve services at Sheffield Children’s Hospital and make it a better place for children and young people? If you’re aged 12-19 years old and have been a patient at the hospital then we want to hear your voice! We’re looking for current and former patients and their brothers and sisters to join our Youth Forum. We want to find out what you think about the hospital and how we can make it better for other children and young people. 

The forum gets together every month to chat about issues at the hospital. 

What do I get out of joining the forum? 

• Build your self confidence  
• Beet new people 
• Develop new skills 
• Improve your communication skills 
• The knowledge that you’re trying to make things better for other young people 

How do I become a member of the forum? 

We just need a few details from you: 

• Name 
• Date of birth 
• Whether you are a patient/ex-patient/sibling 
• A sentence explaining why you would like to join the group 

Send this information by email to scn-tr.transitionteam@nhs.net  

What we’ve been up to 

Since the Youth Forum launched in June 2016 we decided on ‘Youth Forum’ as our official group name and have created our very own motto: ‘Voicing young people’s opinions to shape the hospital’s future.’

We’ve been involved with lots of activities and projects at the Trust. This has included: 

• Carrying out ‘mystery shopping’ visits 
• Touring areas including pharmacy and research 
• Sitting on interview panels for members of staff 
• Carrying out inspections at the hospital and Ryegate Children’s Centre 
• Judging staff awards 
• Visiting the new wing before it opened to the public 
• Quizzing staff on issues that matter to young people, including art and décor around the hospital and the type of play provided on the wards to inpatients 
• Quizzing the Chief Executive 
• Creating a Patient Charter 
• Developing an information guide to support the brothers and sisters of patients 
• Helping with the development of the Trust website, leaflets and posters 

One of our members Ruthie Hayward interviewed our Deputy Chief Executive Ruth Brown on International Women’s Day.

During the National Apprenticeship Week in February 2020, Peter Jackson, one of our young people who comes to the youth forum regularly also interviewed Ruth Brown about how she began her career through a NHS apprenticeship. 

In September 2021, we celebrated our 5th birthday!