Coming to hospital

Your admission letter gives details of where to go when you arrive at Great Western Hospital. If you're unsure, please speak a receptionist in the main atrium.

When you reach your ward, please hand any medication you normally take to your nurse. The ward staff will keep a record of all the medicines you take during your stay.

Please tell us if you have any allergies or side effects to any medicines.

Identity bracelet

You will receive a hospital identity bracelet with your name and hospital number on it.

It is important that you wear this all the time you are in the hospital. 

Your accommodation

You will usually be staying in a ward that specialises in the care of the condition or illness that you have. All our wards are made up of same sex bays.

Personal belongings 

We provide a bedside cupboard for your personal belongings.

This is not lockable and we do not recommend using it for valuable items.

Most of our hospital beds have a personal TV, radio and phone for patients to use.

Each unit has over 20 channels to choose from, with radio (including Hospital Radio) and a personal phone which patients can use to make outgoing calls.

Many of the services are free but some require payment. For services which need payment, there are different bundles to choose from to suit your length of stay in hospital and pocket.

If you get stuck, pick up a bedside phone and you'll be connected free to a customer care team who are available to help 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

Coming into hospital for an operation can be scary, particularly for some of our younger patients.

We recognise how important it is to make their stay as comfortable and stress-free as possible, so we have partnered with Little Journey to implement the ‘Little Journey’ app.

The ‘Little Journey’ platform psychologically prepares, informs and supports children and families before, during and after healthcare procedures, all from the comfort and safety of their own home.

The app has many functions, including virtual tours of the Children’s Ward, theatres and recovery areas for children to watch before they come in for an operation, guidance for parents about fasting and surgical procedures, interactive games for children that can be played with one hand (so they can play whilst having a canula fitted) and relaxation and breathing animations to help calm a child before their operation.

The app is bespoke to Great Western Hospital, and the goal is that the app will help to reduce on-the-day cancellations and unplanned admissions, as well as greatly improving the patient experience by reducing anxiety.

The ‘Little Journey’ app is also designed to support children with additional needs, such as autism or ADHD, and can be translated into 16 different languages – making it fully inclusive for all users.

Download the app

Children being booked in for surgery will be provided with a QR code on their booking letter to take them directly to the app.

You can also download the app through any app store on a mobile device; simply search for ‘The Little Journey App’ and select Great Western Hospitals. 

The ward nursing staff appreciate the need for your relatives to enquire about your well-being. 

We ask that where possible, one person is nominated by yourself to act as the main point of contact to enquire about you. That person can then inform the rest of your family and friends. 

All wards have direct telephone lines to make it easier for your nominated named person or next of kin to contact the staff looking after you.

If your next of kin wishes to speak in person to the professional in charge of your care, they can ask the ward staff to arrange this with your permission.

Phones

You can use your bedside telephone for a fee and there are also card-operated payphones around the Great Western Hospital.

Your relatives and friends can call you on your bedside phone in most cases.

Mobile phones

Mobile phones should not be used in some areas, as they might interfere with some medical equipment or disturb other patients.

In the places where you can use them, please keep them on silent mode and be considerate to other patients. 

Please always check with staff before using a mobile phone.

The use of a mobile phone camera is also not permitted on the wards as this may compromise patient confidentiality. 

Post 

Your relatives or friends are welcome to write to you whilst you are in hospital.

Please ask them to address the letter or card with your full name and the name of your ward, followed by the address of the hospital where you are staying.

If you would like to send a letter yourself, please hand this to your nurse who will post it for you. You will need to provide a stamp.

For patients:

• Ask the staff caring for you whether they have cleaned their hands - they really do not mind
• Use the hand hygiene facilities at every ward entrance and every bedside and encourage your visitors to do so as well
• Please tell a member of staff if you see a spill or something which needs cleaning up
• Please wash your hands before meals and after using the toilet
• Please do not sit on another patient's bed
• Bring personal toiletries including soap and a clean flannel and towel with you. Men should bring in their own razor. Please try to keep your locker top and table as tidy as possible so that our cleaning staff are able to clean effectively.

For visitors:

Bacteria (germs) are all around us in our everyday lives and can be found in your home, in the workplace and out in the community.

It is when a person is ill, their immune system does not work as well or bacteria gets into the bloodstream, that they can cause serious illness. 

• Please do not visit the hospital if you are unwell - you should be free of any symptoms (e.g. sickness and diarrhoea) for at least two days before you visit
• Use the hand hygiene gels provided in each ward and at every patient bedside every time you enter and leave the ward
• Wash your hands after visiting the toilet.

While you are in hospital, it's important that you eat enough of the right food to help with your recovery.

Our catering partner, Serco, provides a wide choice of menus, including dietary and religious/cultural menus, so that every diet can be catered for.

We discourage patients from bringing in their own food, and will support individual needs for special diet requirements to provide all inpatients with a suitable meal.

You will be given a menu to choose your meals from in advance daily; please ask the nursing staff to help you make your choices if you are at all unsure.

Special arrangements

Please tell the nursing staff if:

• If you have any difficulties eating or drinking using the crockery and cutlery provided (specialist equipment can be made available as necessary)
• You need assistance at mealtimes
• You have any special dietry requirements
• You wish to see a dietician
• You wish to see a member of the catering staff

Sometimes patients (particularly the elderly) who come into hospital are already malnourished or at risk of further malnourishment.

To reduce this risk we use a 'red jugs' and 'red trays' system, which indicates to staff that a patient might require additional supervision and/or support at mealtimes.

Great Western Hospital is a smokefree site, in line with The Health Act (2006) and The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE 2013) guidelines.

Smoking is not permitted in any of the Trust buildings, entrances or hospital grounds (both indoors and outdoors).

This policy applies to all staff, patients and visitors.

This is in line with national guidance on smoke-free environments in hospitals and supports the Trust's commitment to reduce the risks of smoking for everyone.

For help with stopping smoking please see:

• Smoking in Pregnancy Service
• Stop smoking - Swindon Borough Council
• NHS Quit smoking

The Pain Management Service is provided on the wards by a team of nurses specialising in pain management.

We visit the wards every day to see all patients having specialised pain treatments and we see patients with specific pain problems referred by the ward staff.

We are anaesthetists who look after patients having operations and run the outpatient service for the management of chronic pain problems. 

Nurses on the wards are trained to care for patients having these kinds of pain relief.

Pain after surgery

Your Anaesthetist will talk about a pain management plan when they discuss the anaesthetic for your operation. For minor surgery and for day surgery procedures you should only need simple painkilling drugs.

For some surgery, local anaesthetic can be used to help with the pain afterwards. This can be done in different ways. 

It might be injected by the surgeon during the operation. The anaesthetist may use local anaesthetic to numb a specific nerve. This is usually done before surgery starts.

For major surgery, special techniques may be used, including Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) or an epidural.

Contact

Telephone: 01793 604335

The main restaurant is located next to the atrium in the main entrance to Great Western Hospital, open 7am - 7.30pm every day.

It serves a wide selection of hot and cold food, and there are several vending machines.

Café Blue

Located on the ground floor of the Brunel Treatment Centre, next to the main entrance, offering a range of hot and cold drinks, and food.

Costa Coffee

Located within the main atrium of Great Western Hospital, offering a range of hot and cold drinks, and food.

Shop

There is a small shop inside the main atrium which sells newspapers, magazines, confectionery, etc.

Boots pharmacy also sells toiletries, and a selection of sandwiches and snacks.

We provide a bedside cupboard for your personal belongings, but it is not lockable and we do not recommend using it for valuable items.

Please try to avoid bringing in personal valuables as we cannot accept responsibility for personal property.

If it's unavoidable, please hand any valuables to the Ward Sister when you arrive, who will then register the items and issue a receipt.

Your valuables will then be taken to security for safe storage.

You may be entitled to help with your NHS travel expenses if you are attending an NHS appointment at GWH and are receiving certain qualifying benefits or are eligible under the NHS Low Income Scheme.

You will need to supply proof of your appointment and proof of a qualifying benefit or entitlement: the NHS travel expenses that may be covered are those which you necessarily incur in attending an appointment here for NHS services, for which you have been referred by a doctor or a dentist.

An important part of the routine in our hospitals is the regular rounds by the senior medical professionals in charge of each patient's care.

It's an opportunity for them to discuss things in detail with the patient and with the nursing and other staff.

Details vary from ward to ward, but generally:

• Each consultant normally does a ward round once or twice per week
• Registrars and junior doctors usually do a ward round daily Monday-Friday

Medical students sometimes join the ward round, so there might be a number of doctors visiting you.

Sometimes, nursing staff will refer questions you might have about your care to the doctor(s) on their rounds.

It's important that you bring all of your medicines into hospital with you, including those that you only take occasionally, so that we know exactly what you are taking and can continue this during your stay.

This information will also help us to ensure that you are on the appropriate treatment, and help us identify any potential problems related to your medication.

When you go home

Any remaining medicines (that the doctors decide you should continue) will be returned to you when you're discharged.

We will also supply at least 14 days' supply of your regular medicines where possible, unless you have a sufficient supply at home.

Your pharmacist or nurse will explain everything you need to know about taking your medicines correctly.

Other items to consider

You will need to bring some basic items with you for your stay in hospital.

The list will vary from patient to patient, but here's a useful checklist:

• Toiletries
• Towel
• Nightwear
• Dressing gown
• Slippers
• Moist wipes
• Razors
• Book / magazine
• Mobile phone
• Notebook and pen
• Money 

Free unlimited access to WiFi is available at Great Western Hospital.

How to access

1. You must be within range of one of the many WiFi hotspots around the Great Western Hospital to use the service
2. Open the Wi-Fi setting on your portable device and connect to 'NHS Wi-Fi'
3. Follow any instructions on screen.
4. Launch your usual web browser

Support

For help accessing the WiFi, contact 0344 848 9555 or email support@wifispark.com.