SPLISH SPLASH

This month GOSH Arts and the Physio Team collaborated to bring Oily Cart’s show Splish Splash to the hydrotherapy pool at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).The immersive, interactive multi-sensory show was created by Oily Cart in partnership with National Theatre Wales as part of their NHS70 celebrations and took children and their physio’s or parents on a magical, watery, musical journey!

Children were selected by the physio team to come to the intimate performances, during which children, performers, physios and parents were in the pool together. The performances were integrated into the children’s planned hydrotherapy, but were naturally very different to the normal sessions!

The hydrotherapy pool at GOSH is used by many different specialities within the physio team on a daily basis. The unique therapy environment of a pool uses the properties of water, e.g. buoyancy, warmth and hydrostatic pressure to facilitate movement which might not be possible on land and can help strengthen or relax muscles, improve fitness or relieve pain.

The hydrotherapy pool was transformed during the performance by underwater lighting, clouds of bubbles drifting from below, curtains of perfumed spray, and live music played on a floating marimba, which created sounds that could be felt as much as heard.

“Splish Splash added that extra special motivation for the children to move, whether it be reaching for the rain with a hand or foot, or swimming over to the other side to hunt for treasure. If all therapy sessions were that creative, it would be amazing.” – Nicola Hubert, Senior Paediatric Physiotherapist

The collaboration between GOSH Arts and the Physio team exemplified how the arts can be used to support clinical care, and the transformative experiences that can be created for families when departments work together!