Rolls-Royce built a “car” for kids to drive through hospital corridors



Last year, Roll-Royce revealed a new luxury concept, catered to the very specific needs of a customer. It was not for an affluent individual, but a medical institution; one that’s situated in the marque’s hometown of Chichester in West Sussex, the St. Richard’s Hospital.

Named the Rolls-Royce SRH, the toy car was hand-built for the hospital’s Pediatric Day Surgery Unit to allow children awaiting surgery to drive themselves to the operating theatre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35rkuwdf9xQ

The self-driving initiative to the operating theatre – through the Pediatric Unit corridors which are lined with ‘traffic signs’ – has been proven to reduce child patient stress.

A year later, the car has performed flawlessly, with no ‘failures to proceed’ and was given the technical green light to continue its service. An average of one child per day has driven to the operating theatre in the Rolls-Royce SRH.

Sue Nicholls of St Richard’s Hospital, said, “Rather than being anxious about their upcoming procedure, our young patients are positively distracted by the fun experience of negotiating the corridors to operating theatre in a car they can drive all by themselves. We’ve also noticed that dads especially love to admire the engineering and design specification and often ask for a turn.”