Your stay in hospital
When getting ready to come into hospital, you might find the following list helpful when you are packing your bag. It’s also a good idea to check your admissions letter to make sure you have included any additional items not listed here that you’ve been asked to bring in:
- Night clothes
- Dressing gown and slippers
- Casual clothes or leisure wear
- Towel
- Personal toiletries – including any shaving materials
- Dentures and a pot and cleaner, if you need them
- Books, magazines or things to do which will help you pass the time
- Reading glasses if you need them
- Some money to buy things such as newspapers from the hospital trolley and cards for the patient entertainment system (see below) may also be useful.
Please don’t bring large amounts of jewellery or money, any electrical items that need a mains supply or your mobile phone.
We will provide you with a small bedside locker for your clothes and other belongings but we cannot accept responsibility for any items lost during your stay.
Please remember to also bring with you any tablets or medicines that you are already taking at home.
If you are expecting to be in hospital a while and normally receive a pension, benefit or allowance please contact your benefits office to let them know about your stay.
Your stay in hosptial – patient leaflet
Clothing
We ask that you bring clothes to wear during the day which are different to your night clothes. Changing into different clothes at the start of each day is proven to help aid your recovery, maintain a normal routine, and help you to return home sooner.
At Barnsley hospital we support and promote the #endPJparalysis campaign. Evidence suggests bed-bound patients lose 1-5% of their muscle strength every day they stay in bed. Skin breakdown, pressure sores, confusion and fatigue can also be side effects. Getting patients up, dressed, and moving is important and helps patients return home sooner.
If a friend or family member has had to come into hospital, please help them understand the importance of bringing alternative clothes to wear during the day, and talk to them about Pyjama Paralysis.
On the day
On the day that you are due to come in to hospital please check your admissions letter for the time you need to come into hospital for.
If you get a cough or cold and are not sure whether you should come in, phone the number on your admissions letter for advice.
On arrival, you will be given more information about the people and procedures involved in your care. Please let the nurse know if you have any special requirements such as a disability, sight or hearing impairment, speech impairment or cultural needs.
All patients are given a wrist band which must be worn at all times as it has important information about you for staff. Please inform a member of staff if you lose or damage your wrist band.
Before your treatment starts, your doctor or consultant will come and see you to check how you are and to discuss your treatment in more detail. If you have any more questions or concerns at this point, speak to your doctor or consultant so they can help. You may be asked to sign a consent form if you are due to undergo a procedure which requires an anaesthetic or may have significant side effects or complications to confirm you have understood the details given to you by the doctor or consultant and that you consent to them treating you.
A relative or friend can come with you and can stay with you while you are admitted. If you are a day patient and having any form of sedation, we recommend that you arrange for someone to take you home.
Patient meals
For patients staying overnight and longer, we provide a wide range of catering services to suit your needs. Our menus have been designed to offer a selection of nutritional meals which cater for all dietary needs. Mealtimes on the wards are protected which means all non-urgent clinical tasks stop for a period of time so that patients can eat their meals in peace, with support if they need it, without being interrupted.