Live Music Now visits Bristol hospital wards

Professional musicians from organisation Live Music Now have been spending two days each month at Bristol’s Southmead and Cossham hospitals, as part of Southmead Hospital Charity’s Fresh Arts Programme. The aim of the programme is to use creativity and the arts to make a positive difference to time spent in hospital.

The musicians have been performing for a wide range of patients on the wards, including those undergoing regular dialysis treatment or people in intensive care, and also in Southmead Hospital’s atrium and Cossham’s cafe for the benefit of those able to move around the hospital as well as their visitors.

The musicians from Live Music Now are selected for their personalities as much as their musical skill

“Live music helps to distract patients from boredom, anxiety and pain, and gives them something new to talk about to visitors and to staff,” says Sophie Dunn, Live Music Now’s director for the South West. “We often get comments like ‘I can’t wait to tell my daughter’. We notice a really positive effect on ward staff too: they often tell us that it’s brightened their day.

“With people who are really poorly, for example in intensive care, the reactions might be smaller but still important. Someone who moves very little might open their eyes or tap their fingers or feet.”

Live Music Now brings music into hospitals, care homes and community spaces across the UK, and has more than 300 professional musicians who audition for a part – based not just on musical talent but also personality. It was founded in 1977 by violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who died in 1999, and Ian Stoutzker, who is still the organisation’s chair.

The musicians playing at Southmead and Cossham hospitals have been involved since April 2018, working as soloists or in duos, and the programme of music is confirmed to continue monthly until March 2018. “The musicians are generally in the first few years of their professional careers,” Sophie says. “Part of Menuhin’s aim was to encourage musicians to use their skills for the benefit of the wider public.

“We’re trying to get a balance between genres – classical, folk, pop – but over time we’re interested in seeing whether one type of music is more effective than another.”

Staff often enjoy the music as much as the patients and visitors

The team behind the Fresh Arts Programme and Live Music Now are keen to work together to collect more information about the affect that music can have on patients and staff. Using the Arts Observational Scale, a tool for the evaluation of arts activities in healthcare settings, they will be evaluating the project for its effects on the patient happiness, distraction from boredom or pain, social interaction and self-expression.

When it comes to anecdotal evidence, it seems clear that the music is helping everyone: ward staff stop to listen in and show their appreciation, as do the visitors in the cafe and atrium.

“The music really does have an impact on the atmosphere,” says Sophie. “Hopefully makes it a welcoming and even an exciting place to be, rather than scary or sad.”

Find out more about Live Music Now sessions by visiting www.livemusicnow.org.uk, and find out more about the Fresh Arts Programme from Southmead Hospital Charity

Photographs by Evan Dawson