IT’S a brand-new way to make children’s hospital visits as painless as possible.

Southampton General Hospital has installed an interactive floor in its children’s outpatients department following a two-year fundraising campaign.

Nurses Olivia Scutt, Alison Chapman, Lorena Carvana, Angela Rogers, Michaela Taplin and Chloe Crispin raised £11,000 for the floor, which projects colourful images to entertain child patients and their siblings.

Michaela Taplin, health care assistant, said: “It took us between 18 months to two years to raise the full £11,000 for the interactive floor. We want to thank everyone who donated money to Southampton Hospital Charity’s children’s outpatient fund and made this possible. We have had great feedback from the parents, and you just need to see the children playing with the floor to see how much they love it!”

She added: “The interactive floor is ideal for the children who have to have blood tests or allergy tests so they can have something fun to do while they wait to take their minds off the tests.”

Among the activities to raise money were a 1930s style street party and a three peaks challenge.