Droylsden girl meets Boris after designing 'hospital of the future'

A Tameside school pupil has met the Prime Minister after winning a “Your NHS” art competition.

A Tameside school pupil has met the Prime Minister after winning a “Your NHS” art competition.

Emily Andrews, a 10-year-old pupil at Greenside Primary School in Droylsden, won the competition with her design for the hospital of the future.

The competition, supported by the Department of Health and Social Care and Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust invited local primary school children in the area to get creative to mark 16.3 million of government investment to develop new and improved Emergency and Urgent Care facilities at Tameside General Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne. 

Open to all primary schools across Tameside the competition invited children to share their vision for the ideal hospital or healthcare centre of the future.

Emily’s winning picture was chosen by a panel of expert local judges including Brendan Ryan, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust Medical Director, after 330 entries were submitted by schools across Tameside. Emily is pictured at 10 Downing Street with The Prime Minister, her mother and father Helen and David Andrews as well as nine fellow winners from across the country.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I was delighted to welcome the young winners of the ‘Your NHS’ art competition to Downing Street. Their creative designs and visions for our health service were spectacular."

The judges were really impressed by all of the inventive and inspiring ideas in Emily’s winning entry such as unicorn and dragon beds in the children’s ward, a healing garden and even gigantic slides for those patients who are able to do a little exercise. They also loved how Emily put a lot of thought into how the design of her hospital can help people feel better.

Emily Andrews said: “I can’t believe I’ve won the Our NHS art competition. I really love drawing, and it was so much fun imagining what my local hospital could look like in the future. The NHS makes me feel safe and loved because it helps all of us so much when we are sick.”

With designs featuring healing gardens, robotic pharmacies and spray antibiotic slides, 10 entries from budding artists across the country were chosen as winners. The 10 prize winners travelled to London on Monday 24th February to share their designs with the Prime Minister. The artistic talents of Emily and her fellow winners have also won them £500 of art vouchers for their school.

Jill Chesney, Art Teacher at Greenside Primary School, which is a member of the Victorious Academies Trust, said: “We are very proud of Emily. We had amazing entries from across the school and know the standard was high across the region. The competition was a great opportunity to get our children thinking about the NHS and I for one, can’t wait to see some of Emily’s ideas come to fruition in the future!”

The winning entry in Tameside will take pride of place in the Tameside General Hospital very soon, along with all of the designs that were shortlisted as finalists in the area.

Karen James OBE, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust Chief Executive, said: “We were so impressed by the quality of the competition entries. It’s clear that the NHS means so much to the community in Tameside and this was a great way of inspiring the next generation who will ultimately help drive the NHS forward. With energy and ideas like Emily’s, we will be in good hands.”