A GROUP of six children who all have an inherited metabolic disorder called phenylketonuria (PKU) put on lab coats and became scientists for the day.
The patients from Bristol Children’s Hospital took part in a tour of the Severn Pa-thology metabolic biochemistry laboratory at Southmead Hospital.
Firstly, they did an “I spy” to help orientate themselves, looking for items they could see in the lab. Next, they made “bloodspots” (using food dye) and prepared them for analysis, just as the scientists do with patients’ samples. The children also got to see the analyser which generates all their phenylalanine results.
The visit was organised by Harvey’s Lab Tours, which was set up in Sussex in 2013 by a scientist and a seven-year-old leukaemia patient, Harvey Baldwin.
Abbie Robotham, a paediatric dietitian at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Trust (UHBW), said: “The day was really valuable, not just for helping families understand what happens behind the scenes, but also for giving us as profession-als a better sense of the day-to-day challenges they face.”