Alder Hey creates Europe’s largest full hospital map by expanding 360° virtual tour

Alder Hey has announced a major expansion of its 360° virtual tour, offering children, young people and families an even more immersive way to explore the hospital.

Funded by Alder Hey Children’s Charity, the enhanced virtual tour lets users take a 360° view of Alder Hey’s hospital environment and walk through key spaces as if they were there, all from the comfort of their home. The project supports Alder Hey’s Vision 2030 ambitions to improve patient and family experience through innovation. 

Designed specifically to support children and young people, the virtual tour aims to:

• improve the experience of visiting Alder Hey
• help users understand where to go and what different areas look like
• reduce anxiety by familiarising families with clinical and non-clinical spaces before they arrive

The expansion also introduces 52 new embedded videos, bringing the total in the virtual tour to 110, along with avatars of staff and young people and enhanced signage to help users navigate the site more easily and understand what to expect in different areas.

The newly expanded model now includes a wide range of additional clinical, research and community spaces across the Alder Hey campus and beyond, including Alder Hey’s MediCinema, Catkin Centre, Medical laboratories and Innovation Hub. It also features several community and outreach buildings.

With this latest phase complete, an additional 125,585 square feet has been mapped, bringing the combined total across phases one and two to 313,585 square feet. The project now represents the first full hospital map of its kind and the largest 360° hospital model in Europe.

Nathan Askew, Chief Nurse at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“By mapping newer areas and expanding our 360° virtual map, we’re allowing families to see more of Alder Hey before they arrive, helping them understand where they’re going and what to expect. We know from the positive feedback from the initial virtual map that this helps to reduce anxiety and improve the overall experience.”

Since its original launch, the virtual tour has attracted more than 30,000 visits and has been used by over 17,000 people, demonstrating its value in helping families feel more prepared and confident ahead of appointments or admissions.

Explore Alder Hey via their virtual tour, HERE.

Find out more about the incredible work of Alder Hey on our website.

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