A stuffed toy monkey character created to help a little girl having an operation in hospital is to be used around the country.

From September, tens of thousands of schoolchildren will learn how the NHS works with the help of books and videos starring Monkey.

The education packs will cover subjects such as visiting an accident and emergency department and what it does, going to a GP, what a pharmacist does and the importance of healthy eating and exercise. Monkey was the brainchild of Helen Sadler, who created the first Monkey Goes to Hospital book when her daughter Josephine was preparing for pioneering lung surgery at Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton.

She took photographs of Monkey in different places around the hospital and added speech bubbles to explain everything that was going on.

It was aimed at making sure Josephine would not be frightened or confused when she came into hospital for real.

The idea impressed hospital bosses who asked her to reproduce thousands of copies for them to give to other young patients.

Mrs Sadler joined forces with her friend Audrey Fletcher-Price to set up a company, AhHa Publications, to distribute the book to other hospitals.

Other books followed, including Monkey has a Blood Test and Monkey has an Operation.

The books caught the eye of national bosses at the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement who have now commissioned the schools project.

Mrs Sadler, 37, from Glynde, near Lewes, said: “It is absolutely amazing.

“It just started out as a small thing to help prepare Josephine for her operation and it has just grown and grown and grown.

“I’m just so glad we are getting this opportunity to help so many children around the country.

“Josephine is now four and she is doing really well. She never looked back after her operation.

“It is wonderful that something so positive has come out of something that was so scary and negative.”

Mrs Fletcher-Price said: “We have known each other for years and when she approached me about the Monkey character I thought it was a great idea.

“We combined my business background in graphic design and her background in childcare to get things going.

“Using photos taken in real settings really does give reassurance to children at what can be a very scary time.”