This booklet uses easy words and pictures to tell you what will happen when you come into hospital.

You might want to ask someone to help you read it.

Keeping safe and well while you are in hospital is important for the staff looking after you.

Let the ward team know if you need extra help to communicate or need support from a friend, carer or family member.

Let the ward team know if you need any assistance, have any needs or have any questions or concerns.

Here is a list of items you may need to bring with you:

• The medicines you take
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Denture pot
• Shaving equipment
• Sanitary towels or tampons
• Nightwear, dressing gown and slippers
• Comfy clothes
• Snug fitting slippers or shoes with rubber soles
• A small amount of money

Make sure you fill out a patient disclaimer form for anything of value.

You can have your mobile phone, laptop, or tablet with you but this is at your own risk.

Tell staff if you are allergic to any medicines, foods or materials like latex or plasters.

Everyone in hospital must wear a wristband all the time.

If you don’t have a wristband, please ask the ward staff to put one on for you. Tell the ward staff right away if any of the information on your hospital wristband is wrong.

We want to help protect everyone from all types of abuse. This is called Safeguarding.

Talk to someone if you think you might be being abused.

Please give all the medicines you usually take to the nursing staff when you come into hospital. 

Tell staff if you have any medical alert cards or use any devices for example an insulin pump.

If you don’t understand what any new medicines are for and why you need to take them ask a member of staff.

Ask a member of staff if you have any questions about possible side effects of your medicines.

Protect yourself from slips and falls when walking around the hospital:

• Wear the right kind of footwear, such as snug fitting slippers or shoes with rubber soles, such as trainers
• Wear your glasses and hearing aids if you have them

• Don’t try and walk on your own if you feel dizzy, weak or tired
• Use the walking aid you normally use

• Use the nurse call bell if you are not sure you can manage on your own
• Ask a member of staff to help if you need it

Help to prevent infection by:  

• Always washing your hands after going to the toilet and before all meals
• Asking staff and visitors if they’ve washed or sanitised their hands before they have contact with you

• Telling staff right away if you have any diarrhoea or vomiting
• Letting staff know if any tubes or needles attached to you become uncomfortable

• Tell your visitors not to come to hospital if they don’t feel well.  Please ask them not to visit until they have been free of symptoms for 48 hours

To help prevent blood clots:

• Take short walks, if you are able to
• Do simple leg and ankle exercises
• Drink plenty of water, or other fluids, unless staff have told you not to
• You might also need to have injections to thin your blood

To help prevent pressure ulcers:

• Regularly change position in bed
• Ask staff to help you move if you find it difficult
• Staff can also get you a special mattress or cushion if you need them

We will ask you to agree to any form of examination, treatment or care. This is called giving consent. 

You can ask us for copies of your consent form if you would like one.

It is important that you feel you have been given enough information before you agree to any part of your treatment or care.

If there is anything you do not understand or have a question please tell the person who has asked you for consent so they can help you.

You can ask for more information, change your mind or refuse consent at any time.

The entrances to the hospitals are locked:

Bradford Royal Infirmary between 9.00pm and 6.00am. After 9.00pm you have to go to the main entrance on Duckworth Lane.

St Luke’s Hospital between 8.00pm and 6.00am. After 8.00pm the entrance is monitored from the reception desk. 

All staff should have a badge with a photo on it and they will tell you who they are and what their role is. 

If you are not sure who someone is, please ask them and ask to see their badge.

Posters showing what each uniform represents can be found displayed in clinical areas.

Please check the visiting times with the ward staff or on our website:

https://www.bradfordhospitals.nhs.uk

Please ask your visitors not to bring you flowers.

John’s Campaign supports people with dementia to have their usual family and carers around them whilst they are in hospital.

Please ask a member of the ward team for more details.

Please check with a member of the ward team before using your mobile phone.

Calls from the bedside units to UK landlines are free but incoming calls are charged to the person making the call.

Post is delivered each morning.

If you go home, move wards to go to a different hospital your post will be sent on to you.

A date when you will be going home from hospital will be planned.  This is done to make sure that any support or medication that you will need when you go home is in place.

You will need to sort out your own transport home. Speak to a member of the ward team looking after you if you have any questions about this.

You may have to go to the Discharge Lounge if you have to wait for someone to pick you up to take you home. 

You may be moved ward during your stay.  We will explain why this is happening to you.

Your meals each day will be delivered around:

8.00am for Breakfast

12noon for Lunch 

5.00pm for evening meal

Please note that the ward team is not allowed to heat up any food you bring into the hospital.

Please do not share your food with other patients.

Foods you can bring into hospital:

• Preserves: jams, marmalade and spreads which do not need to go in the fridge
• Savoury snacks: crisps, nuts, pretzels, Bombay mix
• Biscuits
• Confectionery: chocolates, boiled sweets
• Cakes and buns without cream or custard
• Plain or fruit cakes

Drinks you can bring into hospital:

• Fruit juice
• Cordials
• Squash and glucose drinks
• Fruit or herbal teas

If you need to know about accessibility at our hospitals then visit the web page:

https://www.accessable.co.uk/bradford-teaching-hospitals-nhs-foundation-trust

Cycle parking is located close to the main hospital entrances.

You can check the bus travel information on the Metro website at: www.wymetro.com or contact MetroLine on: 0113 245 7676.

There is pay and display parking at each hospital site. 

If you have any parking concerns, please speak to a member of the ward team.

Free parking is available in some circumstances. Check with a member of the ward team or reception staff.

If you have a blue badge you can park free of charge in the disabled or the pay and display areas of the car park.

You must display your blue badge on the dashboard of your car.

While you are in hospital, your rights to patient confidentiality will be respected.

Please tell us who we can speak to about your care.

When you are in hospital, we might talk to you about CPR. CPR can be needed if someone’s heart and breathing stop.

Your wishes are very important and we will consider them if we need to make that decision. 

If you have any questions or worries about this, please tell your consultant or the nurse responsible for your care.

We are a smoke-free organisation this means you or your visitors are not permitted to smoke or use e-cigarettes/vapes in any of the hospital buildings or grounds. 

Speak to a member of the ward team if you would like advice on stopping smoking.

Equality - your rights and responsibilities:

• You have the right to be treated fairly and be involved in decisions about your treatment and care
• You can expect to be treated with dignity and respect
• You will not be discriminated against on any grounds
• You have a responsibility to treat other patients and our staff with dignity and respect

If you want to speak to a member of staff about any additional needs or support please do not hesitate to ask a member of the ward team. 

The Trust has a dedicated Learning Disability Nurse who is available for advice and support. 

Please ask a member of the ward team if you would like a referral to the Learning Disability Nurse for advice.

Please let a member of the ward team know if you require an interpreter so they can arrange this for you.

This service is for patients who need help with interpretation whose first language is not English or require a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

If you do not usually live in the UK then you will be visited by the Overseas Visitors Officer.  They will assess if you are eligible for treatment and where necessary quote you for the cost of your hospital stay and treatment.

A chaperone is someone who accompanies another person so they can witness what happens and support a patient during an appointment or consultation. If you would like a chaperone please speak to a member of the ward team.

We will respect your privacy, dignity, religious and cultural beliefs. 

Wherever possible, men and women will not have to share the same sleeping accommodation, toilets or bathing facilities.

The SPaRC team offers confidential support to all patients regardless of faith or non-faith beliefs. You may just want to talk to someone about personal or emotional matters.

Speak to a member of the ward team if you would like them to contact the SPaRC team for you.

Bradford Hospitals’ Charity is the official NHS charity partner of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. 

As an NHS charity they work closely within the Trust to fund equipment, training, research and projects which enhance the experience of patients and their families. 

For more information visit:

https://bradfordhospitalscharity.org/

We record all information about your hospital stay in your electronic patient record.  When you see any health professional they will ask you to give us information about yourself. This helps us decide with you what treatment is best for you.

Your records are used to:

• Provide the healthcare professionals involved in your care with information to assess your health and care needs
• We will share only relevant information with other NHS providers
• Make sure any concerns you may have can be properly investigated

If you want a copy of your records you will need to make a formal application.

You can get this form from:

• the Main Reception desks at BRI or St Luke’s
• the Access to Health Records Office via email

If you are unhappy or have any questions or concerns while you are in hospital please speak to a member of staff about it straight away. Your care will not be affected in any way.

A booklet called Tell Us What You Think is available on every ward. 

There are also Tell Us What You Think quick comment cards available.

If you cannot see these, please ask a member of the ward team to get one for you.

Whether you are a patient, relative or carer, the Patient Experience Team is here to help you to raise your concerns or to get advice or information.

The phone number for the Patient Experience Team is:

01274 364810 or you can contact them via email: 

patient.experience@bthft.nhs.uk 

... And When It Is Time To Go Home

Make sure you:

• Understand when you will receive your hospital discharge letter and any follow-up appointments 

• Have been given any medicines to take at home and you know what they are for and how to take them

• Know who to contact if you have any questions about your care or follow-up arrangements 

• Ask for a note from the doctor, for you to give to your work,  which says that you have been in hospital if you need one.

Some of the images in this information resource have been taken from the 'easy on the i' image bank. Copyright ©LYPFFT. The remaining images were created by Medical Illustration ©BTHFT.