POORLY youngsters got a chance to be scientists for the day thanks to a new scheme.

Children who are being treated at Southampton General Hospital will get special access to the pathology laboratories where tests are done on their blood.

As well as looking around the labs Youngsters will also get the chance to process their own samples and ask questions about how testing helps doctors understand their conditions.

Southampton General Hospital is the fifth hospital to launch the Harvey’s Gang initiative.

They hope to offer the scheme to all critically ill children, giving them a better understanding about what the lab does with their samples.

The award-winning Harvey’s Gang was first launched in Worthing Hospital in memory of eight-year-old Harvey Baldwin who died in October 2014 of leukaemia. While During the 18 months he was receiving treatment he was given the chance to visit the labs as a trainee biomedical scientist.

His story inspired the team at Southampton General Hospital who have now bought it to the city.

Michael Hill was the fourth youngster to become a trainee biomedical scientist for the day in the Southampton laboratories.

The 14-year-old from Hamble said: “I have enjoyed it. We have been looking around the labs and we have been doing science. We have been doing tests and looking at slides of my blood and other people’s blood.”

Kerry Dowling of the blood transfusion team said: “It’s been inspirational. The children are like sponges. They’re so happy and smiley and soak in everything you have to tell them. It’s an inspiration and it’s a motivation for the staff that work here.

“It’s also humbling. They’re so young and they go through so much yet they don’t grumble or complain. They just get on with it.

“It’s unusual to have children in the laboratories or to have any patients here. A lot of the time we’re behind the scenes.

“For the children it’s entering a secret area of the hospital. It’s somewhere that people don’t get to go so that makes it more special.

“A lot of them have a lot of blood tests taken and they don’t understand why. They know that someone’s sticking a needle in and taking blood from them and they have a lot of questions about it.”

Kerry said the scheme has even helped a nine-year-old girl from Fareham who was being treated at the hospital overcome her fear of needles.

Critically ill youngsters who are being treated in Southampton can apply through their wards to take part in the programme and receive an individually tailored tour.