Clown Doctors Dr Sniggles and Dr Buttercup visited ten year old Phoenix in the paediatrics ward at Lismore Base Hospital (LBH) yesterday.

They entered the room singing, playing ukelele and dancing around Phoenix’s bed while Phoenix giggled at their silly antics.

“I’m in charge of sneezes and giggles,” Dr Sniggles said.

“I’m in charge of butter and cups,” Doctor Buttercup said.

Dr Sniggles then tricked Dr Buttercup into sitting on a whoopee cushion. See the video here: https://www.facebook.com/LismoreApp/videos/2707271165997886/

Clown Doctors Dr Sniggles and Dr Buttercup make Phoenix laugh at their antics.

“Clowns are funny, they make me laugh,” Phoenix said.

“And we’re clever,” Dr Buttercup said.

“And we’re stinky,” Dr Sniggles said.

The Clown Doctors have been bringing the best medicine possible – laughter – to Lismore Base Hospital for 15 years now.

Dr Sniggles and Dr Buttercup are two of the 73 Clown Doctors around Australia, bringing smiles people in 23 hospitals for national charity The Humour Foundation.

Dr Sniggles said she has had lots of medical training - practicing stitching on barbies.

Doctor Buttercup said has been to the doctor more than once and that laughter is the best medicine.

“It fixed us,” she said.

The Clown Doctors then went on to bring smiles to the faces of the hospital ward’s nurses at their staff Christmas party.

Clown Doctors cut the cake at the hospital ward’s staff Christmas party.

They regularly make their rounds of all hospital departments, making everyone laugh – from the cleaners, to the administration staff and visitors. 

"It's important to make people happy, especially at Christmas time when people don't have their families around them," Dr Sniggles said.

Helen Quinlan, better known as ‘Dr Sniggles’, has been working at the LBH since the Clown Doctors’ very first visit to the hospital in 2004. 

[You can read more about Dr Sniggles in The Lismore App's Sunday Profile on Sunday, December 22.]

Since then, the Clown Doctors have visited Lismore Base more than 700 times, enriching the lives of countless sick children, families and hospital staff. 

Clown Doctors are highly skilled professional performers trained to work in sensitive hospital environments and are an integral part of the Lismore health community. 

Their weekly visits to the LBH are highly anticipated by patients and staff across the hospital, not just the children’s ward. 

Clown Doctors perform magic, music, puppetry, and slapstick comedy to help make the atmosphere happier, contributing to a less intimidating experience for hospital patients. 

They help calm distressed children in the emergency department, empower patients who must undergo a painful or uncomfortable procedure, and encourage and assist during occupational therapy and physiotherapy. 

The Clown Doctors are provided by The Humour Foundation, a national charity dedicated to promoting and delivering the positive health benefits of humour to the Australian community. 

The Humour Foundation’s Local Program Co-ordinator for Queensland and Lismore said “we are proud to be celebrating 15 years of providing this service to the patients and staff at Lismore Base Hospital”.

“Our Clown Doctors are highly trained, professional performers who spread fun, laughter and little magic throughout the hospital, to help uplift sick patients,” she said.

For more information, visit http://www.humourfoundation.org.au

You can read more about Dr Sniggles in this week’s Sunday Profile on The Lismore App on Sunday, December 22.