What to bring
Your child will have a bedside locker to store clothes, toys and other items. Please bring the following into hospital:
- Your child’s admission letter.
- Any medicines your child is currently taking. Please let nursing staff know if you have them in your possession so they can be locked away for safe keeping.
- Toiletries for you and your child, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels and hairbrushes. We encourage one parent to stay overnight with their child. Accommodation and facilities are limited, but we will do our best to make you comfortable.
- If your child requires a specialised feed, please bring this with you. Staff in the milk kitchen will make your child’s feed in a sterile environment. Bottles and teats will be supplied on the ward.
- Night-time and daytime clothes for your child.
- Your child’s favourite toys. Please mark these with your child’s name and avoid bringing expensive toys. Please do not bring soft toys either as these may need to be thrown out as an infection control measure.
- A supply of nappies if you have a baby or toddler.
- Your own tea and/or coffee if you are staying for more than one night.
- Some fruit or healthy snacks. Please keep any supply of sweets to a minimum.
- Books or magazines to keep you occupied when your child is at hospital school or involved in the play specialist’s activities.
What to do when you arrive at the hospital
Please take your child’s admission letter to the admissions desk in the entrance hall. The receptionist will give you a form to bring to the ward.
To access your child’s ward, please use the intercom system located beside the doors to the ward. After you press the intercom, wait a few minutes before pressing again if you don’t get a response.
It may take staff a short while to free themselves and answer the intercom.
TV, radio and phones
Mobile phones
Mobile phones must be switched off in the main ward area. You may use your phone in the outer corridor of the ward or the parents’ room if available.
Money and valuables
Parents are asked to take all valuables home. We do not accept liability for patients’ personal property or money brought onto Trust sites unless it is handed in for safe storage and a written note of confirmation is provided by us. A patient property record will be completed by a member of hospital staff in the presence of a second member of staff and/or a patient or their parent (where possible).
Money or valuables handed over for safe storage will be sent to the cash office except when no office staff are present. In those circumstances, the money or valuables will be placed in a secure place and sent to the cash office as soon as possible.
Helping our cleaners
To prevent the spread of infection, it is vital that wards and departments are cleaned to a very high standard. If surfaces around your child’s bed are cluttered, it is difficult to clean them. Please keep locker tops, table tops and floor surfaces between beds free of clutter.
We recommend that your child’s personal items are kept to a minimum during their stay in hospital. Where possible, personal belongings should be stored in your child’s bedside locker.
Travel expenses
A Hospital Travel Costs Scheme is available to help people who are entitled to reclaim travel costs to and from hospital for NHS treatment.
You may be eligible to reclaim travel expenses if you receive benefits or credits or are on a low income.