{"id":533482,"date":"2026-07-09T19:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/533482\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T19:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:11:12","slug":"duke-of-sussex-highlights-nhs-financial-difficulties-during-hospital-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/533482\/","title":{"rendered":"Duke of Sussex highlights NHS \u2018financial difficulties\u2019 during hospital visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Duke of Sussex<\/a> posed for pictures with nurses during a visit to a children\u2019s hospital where he spoke about the \u201cfinancial difficulties\u201d facing the NHS.<\/p>\n

Harry toured Birmingham Children\u2019s Hospital to celebrate 20 years of the charity WellChild\u2019s specialist nursing programme, helping seriously ill children and their families transition from the hospital to their homes.<\/p>\n

Families asked for pictures, and the duke posed for a group shot with around a dozen nurses, telling them: \u201cThank you for everything you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harry was there to meet two nurses funded by WellChild, which facilitates children being allowed to leave hospital early by teaching their parents the skills needed to provide care at home, and met some of the young patients.<\/p>\n

The Duke of Sussex, Patron of WellChild, poses for a photo with the medical staff during a visit to the Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Credit: PA<\/p>\n

In a lighter moment, the duke revealed his son\u2019s love of toy building bricks when he shared stories with Alec Hill, 12, and his parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know who\u2019s obsessed with Lego? My son Archie \u2013 and he\u2019s a master builder,\u201d said Harry, who is rumoured to be planning to bring his young son and daughter to see their grandfather the King some time this week.<\/p>\n

The duke, WellChild\u2019s patron, told a room of the charity\u2019s executives, nurses and families: \u201cI don\u2019t know if you hear it enough, the difference that you make every single day is quite literally changing daily lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter<\/a> for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning. <\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI understand, and we understand, that becomes harder every week with cuts and financial difficulties\u2026 just the insanity that seems to be circulating, not just in this country but in general.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut hospitals like this don\u2019t run without people like you, and families like this can\u2019t be families that they want to be at home without the expertise and the skill set that you\u2019re handing over to them, and WellChild is right at the centre of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the duke visited Birmingham, his estranged brother the Prince of Wales carried out official events in Hastings and the King and Queen visited London Zoo, where Charles used a stethoscope to help give a \u201cvery well-behaved\u201d penguin a health check.<\/p>\n

King Charles III and Queen Camilla listen to the heart beat of a penguin using stethoscopes. Credit: PA<\/p>\n

Harry\u2019s week-long trip to the UK has generated scrutiny over his accommodation arrangements, after a public disagreement with Buckingham Palace<\/a> about offers of a royal room, and whether he will meet Charles.<\/p>\n

The duke told the parents supported by WellChild that he hoped the government, the NHS and the partnership with WellChild provide \u201cmore opportunities for you to make your lives easier\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t solve everything, but what we can do is make sure that your lives are more comfortable and that you are trained to be able to take your kids home and not be stuck in the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Duke of Sussex chats with nursing staff to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first WellChild Nurse. Credit: PA<\/p>\n

The room laughed when he quipped about hospital meals: \u201cAnd not because the food is bad, though that might be a reason, but so you can actually have a family life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harry spoke just before he cut a raspberry and white chocolate sponge to celebrate 20 years of WellChild nurses, and joked \u201cI haven\u2019t cut a cake for a very long time\u201d, as he debated where to place the knife.<\/p>\n

During the small celebration, he had a public discussion about the World Cup when he quizzed former WellChild patient Wyatt Makwana, 12, about England\u2019s chances in their quarter-final match on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Wyatt said: \u201cIf England do win against Norway, I don\u2019t think they will get past the semis,\u201d and the duke made the room laugh when he replied: \u201cLet\u2019s hope you\u2019re wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know\u2026 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Duke of Sussex posed for pictures with nurses during a visit to a children\u2019s hospital where he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[163,521,85,46],"class_list":["post-533482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}