THE journey to the operating theatre is rarely a pleasant one. But Royal Surrey County Hospital is hoping to change this for its younger patients by taking them on a treasure hunt.

Some unusual characters have appeared on the walls of the hospital’s otherwise non-descript corridor between its ‘Hascombe’ children’s ward and the operating theatres.

Youngsters will be encouraged to spot as many as they can as they make the short journey for treatment.

Once they return from surgery they will be presented with a certificate indicating the number characters they have spotted.

The idea was generated by theatre healthcare assistant Tracy Foster after recognising how anxious children could become on the journey.

Tracy said: “When children become distressed before an operation it can lead to delays and even to the cancellation of a procedure.

“Here at Royal Surrey we understand that the prospect of receiving an anaesthetic and having an operation can be incredibly scary for our younger patients and we are keen to minimise this as best we can.

“The distraction approach employed by the treasure hunt can help calm the children down and turn what has previously been a terrifying journey into a fun one.”