• Reference Number: HEY-631/2018
• Departments: ENT, Emergency Department, Oral Surgery, Dentistry and Max Fax, Orthopaedics
• Last Updated: 10 April 2018

Introduction

This advice sheet has been produced to give you general information about your stay on the ward.  Most of your questions should be answered by this advice sheet.  If after reading it you have any concerns or require further explanation, please discuss this with the nurse caring for you and the appropriate professional will be found to answer your query.

What happens on Ward 12 and Ward 120?

Situated on the 12th floor of Hull Royal Infirmary, Wards 12 and 120 admit patients from the Emergency Department (ED), Orthopaedic, Maxillofacial Departments.

If you are admitted from the ED under the orthopaedic team, your case (and the cases of other patients awaiting theatre) will be reviewed the next morning by the consultants in a Trauma Meeting. This is to identify the order of urgency for surgery when needed.

Your consultant will then visit you on the ward to discuss with you the most suitable treatment. Not all broken bones require surgery but may need the fitting of a cast or brace. Please be aware that you may not be able to eat and drink until a decision is made and any concerns should be discussed with the nurse caring for you.

There is no guarantee that if you need surgery, that it will happen on this day for the following reasons:

• You may need further investigations before a decision can be made.
• Excessive swelling will need to reduce prior to surgery.
• Special equipment may need to be ordered.
• Patients may be admitted from ED with life or limb threatening injuries that need immediate surgery.
• Patients ahead of you on the list may take longer than planned in theatre.
• The condition of other patients nursed on the ward may deteriorate unexpectedly, requiring them to move up the theatre list ahead of you.

Maxillofacial consultants have two ward rounds daily when they will discuss your care with you.

You may be moved to another ward in the Trust once you have had any surgery you need, and a treatment plan is in place, to ensure our beds are available for further emergency admissions.

What do I need to bring with me?

If your admission is planned, you may find it useful to bring the following items into hospital with you. As space is limited, please only have things you really need.

• Toiletries.
• Well-fitting footwear.
• Nightwear, including a dressing gown.
• Daytime clothes as during your recovery, when sat out of your bed, you can dress in your usual clothes.
• Tissues.
• Soft drinks.
• Reading material.
• Glasses and/or hearing aids if worn.
• A small amount of money for a newspaper etc.

We strongly advise you not to bring large amounts of money, jewellery or other valuables. Please note that the Trust accepts no responsibility for loss, theft, damage to any property unless it has been formally deposited with the Trust for safe keeping.

Mobile phones can be used by patients but please be aware of other patients on the ward trying to rest.

Useful information for you and your visitors.

Hot drinks are provided to patients at regular intervals. Please ask if you require anything else.

If it would be beneficial for a visitor to support you at meal times, please ask the nurse in charge.
Dirty laundry will need to be taken by your visitors to be washed.

This is a non-smoking hospital and smoking is not allowed in the hospital or grounds. Patients who Vape will be allowed to do so after discussion with ward staff. Smoking Cessation treatment is available to help smokers cope with this if required.

Please ask the nurse caring for you if you require a chaperone during intimate care and procedures.

If your visitors need further information regarding your treatment and care, with your permission an appointment can be arranged with a Charge Nurse to answer any questions.

You will be asked to fill in a Friends and Family feedback form on discharge, if you are not given one on the day of discharge please ask as it important to us to receive feedback regarding your stay.

What we promise to do.

We will

• Be polite and courteous to you and your visitors.
• Offer flexibility wherever possible if the patient’s needs require it.
• Be flexible with visiting if a visitor wishes to assist the patient to eat.
• Do our best to create a calm and restful place for our patients to recover.
• Ensure facilities for hand hygiene are readily available.
• Work hard to create a clean environment.
• Do what we can to protect our patients from infection – this may mean restricting visiting or isolating any affected patient.
• With the patient’s permission, keep next of kin updated.
• Support relatives in patient care if appropriate.
• Use our skills to prioritise planning of care and communicate our decisions.
• Arrange for you to speak to a member of the medical team with the patient’s permission.

What we ask visitors/patients/relatives to do.

Please

• Be polite and courteous to staff, other patients and visitors.
• Respect the ward visiting times.
• Ensure only two people visit at any one time.
• Do not feel you have to stay the whole of the visiting time, the person you have come to see needs to rest and recover.
• Leave promptly at the end of visiting and return any chairs you have borrowed.
• No visiting allowed at mealtimes to enable patients to eat in a quiet relaxed environment.
• Do not visit if you are unwell.
• Comply with infection control instructions from staff.
• Do not sit on the patient’s bed.
• Do not use the patient’s toilets.
• Respect that information cannot be given out without the express permission of the patient.
• Arrange for one family member to liaise between ward staff, family and friends.

General Advice and Consent

Most of your questions should have been answered by this leaflet, but remember that this is only a starting point for discussion with the healthcare team.

Consent to treatment

Before any doctor, nurse or therapist examines or treats you, they must seek your consent or permission. In order to make a decision, you need to have information from health professionals about the treatment or investigation which is being offered to you. You should always ask them more questions if you do not understand or if you want more information.

The information you receive should be about your condition, the alternatives available to you, and whether it carries risks as well as the benefits. What is important is that your consent is genuine or valid. That means:

• you must be able to give your consent
• you must be given enough information to enable you to make a decision
• you must be acting under your own free will and not under the strong influence of another person

Information about you

We collect and use your information to provide you with care and treatment. As part of your care, information about you will be shared between members of a healthcare team, some of whom you may not meet. Your information may also be used to help train staff, to check the quality of our care, to manage and plan the health service, and to help with research. Wherever possible we use anonymous data.

We may pass on relevant information to other health organisations that provide you with care. All information is treated as strictly confidential and is not given to anyone who does not need it. If you have any concerns please ask your doctor, or the person caring for you.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 we are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any information we hold about you. For further information visit the following page: Confidential Information about You.

If you or your carer needs information about your health and wellbeing and about your care and treatment in a different format, such as large print, braille or audio, due to disability, impairment or sensory loss, please advise a member of staff and this can be arranged.