Being Admitted to Hospital

When you arrive at your designated ward a nurse will take your details, plan your care with you and answer any questions. Feel free to approach any member of staff for more information.

Please let nursing staff know if you have any allergies, special needs or have had any recent contact with any infectious diseases.

We always try to ensure that the privacy and dignity of our patients are respected. Most wards provide single sex bays and partitioned areas to separate male and female patients. You may not initially have these facilities if you are admitted as an emergency.

There may be times when you will need to be transferred to another ward in the hospital to facilitate emergency admissions. This will however be kept to a minimum. Your co-operation is appreciated.

You will have received some documentation regarding your admission. Please complete the necessary forms and bring them with you. Bring any family contact numbers. If you receive any type of pension or family income support, please take a note of the numbers and bring them with you.

Nightwear, dressing gown and slippers
Towels, toiletries, moist hand wipes and battery operated razors (if required)
Books and a small amount of money for the bedside phone or newspapers if desired.
Medication (see below)

large sums of money
electrical equipment
valuables/jewellery into the ward.

Please send home money or valuables or tell the nurse in charge who will place these in safe keeping for you. All sums of money will be returned to you in cheque form.

The hospital will not accept responsibility for loss or damage to any article which has not been handed over for safe keeping. Watches and small amounts of money can be kept in the ward safe whilst you are at theatre. Expensive jewellery should not be brought into hospital.

Whilst you are in hospital the clinical staff may want to prescribe new medicines, or other treatment. Before doing so they will want to know what other medicines, including homoeopathic or herbal remedies, you are already taking, or have with you.

It is therefore VERY important that you tell the doctor, nurse or pharmacist about such medicines and bring them with you to hospital if possible. It could be dangerous for you to continue to take your own medicines or to take any medicines brought to you by visitors during your stay in hospital. You should always tell the nurse in charge about any medicines brought to you in this way.

If you hold a special card which gives details of any current treatment, for example, a steroid or warfarin card, or an allergies alert card or any devices please bring these with you into hospital and show them to the doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

Some wards in the hospital have bedside lockers with a lockable medicines drawer, for safe storage of your medicines.