Staff Spotting Safari is a project designed for the children and young people on the bone marrow transplant ward at Great Ormond Street Hospital for children in London.

Bone marrow transplant procedures significantly reduce the body’s ability to fight off infections. As a result, children and young people are nursed in purpose-built isolation bedrooms for many weeks or months to prevent infection. Due to strict infection protocols, there are also restrictions on visitors entering each room, so the ward is composed of many children and families, all living separately.

I was asked to create an art intervention on the ward to foster community and connection in this isolating environment while also bringing nature into this sterile setting.

Inspired by the 'data collection' hobbies popular in the UK for many decades, such as trainspotting and plane spotting, I developed a similar concept for the ward. In these hobbies, enthusiasts observe and 'collect' sightings by ticking them off a list.

Instead of spotting birds or wild animals, the children and young people on the ward could embark on a nature-spotting expedition from their hospital beds, spotting the ‘animals’ wandering the wards: the hospital staff!

As children and young people are the ones who are poked and prodded and observed in hospital, this project turns the tables and gives some control back to the children. 

The concept takes the form of a ‘Staff Spotting Safari’ field note and colouring book, designed and printed to adhere to the strict infection protocol. Using this booklet, participants can spot different types of staff working on their ward.

Each staff ‘species’ is represented by a different character, with unique head shapes to indicate different categories of staff attributes to spot, such as uniform colour, hobbies, sports, and more.

Once a certain staff ‘species’ is spotted, children can color them in (or for older children, simply tick them off a list), earning a prize once they’ve spotted a certain amount.