Warwick Hospital

Visiting

General visiting takes place at our Trust between the hours of 12:00 to 07:00pm. Each patient can have two visitors at one time. Please ring the ward ahead of visiting to organise your visit. In cases such as compassionate grounds more than two visitors are permitted per patient. Patients with additional needs such as dementia, learning disabilities and autism and those receiving a life changing diagnosis can have visiting outside of normal visiting hours agreed on an individual bases with the ward.

Specialist areas such as Macgregor ward, Intensive care, Special care baby unit and maternity services have their own visiting guidance please discuss with the department your specific arrangements.

All visitors are required to wear a mask while attending clinical areas. Please do not visit if you have symptoms of COVID 19, Flu or diarrhoea and vomiting

Please note there may be restrictions in place in certain areas.

When visiting your relative or friend please do not give them any medication or help them to take any medication without checking with the nursing staff on the ward that it is safe to do so. All medication given has to be recorded in order to correctly assess the patients' condition and response to treatment.

Are you visiting from an EU Country or Switzerland? You will need to show your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). More information on the EHIC card.

How to cancel or re-arrange your appointment

If you can’t attend a face-to-face or virtual appointment, even if it is the last minute, please let us know so we can re-arrange it and offer the slot to help someone else.

You can cancel and re-arrange appointments by calling  01926 600 036  or emailing OutpatientsAppointments@swft.nhs.uk.

Suitable gifts

Flowers and plants are attractive but they do not last in the warm hospital atmosphere, locker space is very limited, and as there is electrical equipment, spillages may be hazardous. Therefore not all wards welcome flowers or plants. Please consider bringing other items such as: travel size toiletries; a book or magazine; games, cards and puzzle books. You could also bring squash, sparkling water, sugar-free gum, small quantities of fresh fruit, plain biscuits.

Please check with ward staff if in doubt about the suitability of gifts and please do not bring in hot food.

Wheelchairs

Please note that wheelchairs require a £1 coin to use. This is to ensure that wheelchairs are returned to the correct areas so that they are available for when patients/visitors require them.

Restaurant opening times

Think Food Restaurant
Monday - Friday 8am to 7.30pm
Saturday - Sunday 8am to 2pm

Café Qualita
Monday – Sunday 7am to 8pm

Visiting times

Below are our visiting times. However, we occasionally need to put restrictions on visiting times for clinical reasons. Whenever this happens there will be an alert on the homepage of the website. Please make sure that you check this or call the ward before visiting.

Please be aware the wards have a weekly floor clean that means that it may be temporarily not possible to go into the specific area being cleaned or you may be asked to come out for a short time whilst this is being done. Please liaise with the relevant ward area to find out more about when this happens.

We are proud to confirm that the Trust has eliminated mixed sex accommodation from all of our Hospitals.

Every patient has the right to receive high quality care that is safe, effective and respects their privacy and dignity. The Trust is committed to providing every patient with same-sex accommodation, because it helps to safeguard their privacy and dignity when they are often at their most vulnerable.

We are proud to confirm that the Trust is compliant with same sex accommodation standards. Our aim is that all patients who are admitted to any of our hospitals will only share their room with members of the same sex, and that same sex toilets and bathrooms will be close to their bed area. Sharing with members of the opposite sex should only happen by exception, in the event of a life threatening emergency or where patients need constant observation (for example in the Intensive Care Unit, the Coronary Care Unit, or in the immediate post-operative recovery rooms).

Sharing accommodation with the opposite gender may occur, in certain areas in the Trust, where there has been agreement by all of the patients concerned and where the patients’ dignity is able to be maintained at all times. Examples of such sharing include, where patients are receiving day case treatments such as chemotherapy; where patients are having minor surgery to extremities such as eyes, feet, hands, where they are not required to undress; in the children’s ward, where children and young people prefer to be segregated according to age rather than gender.

What does this mean for patients?

Same sex accommodation means

• the room where your bed or trolley is will only have patients of the same sex as you in it, even if you are not staying over night;
• your toilet and bathroom will be just for your gender, and will be close to your bed area;
• it is possible that there will be both men and women patients on the ward, but they will not share your bed/ trolley area. You may have to cross a ward corridor to reach your bathroom, but you will not have to walk through opposite-sex areas;
• you may share some communal space, such as day rooms, dining rooms and therapy areas, such as gyms and it is very likely that you will see both male and female patients as you move around the hospital (e.g. on your way to X-ray or the operating theatre);
• it is probable that visitors of the opposite gender will come into the room where your bed is, and this may include patients visiting each other;
• it is almost certain that both male and female nurses, doctors and other staff will come into your bed area;
• if you need help to use the toilet or take a bath (e.g. you need a hoist or special bath) then you may be taken to a "unisex" bathroom used by both men and women, but a member of staff will be with you, and other patients will not be in the bathroom at the same time, and
• in Accident and Emergency, before patients are admitted to the Trust, patients will experience mixed sex areas. However, patients will be in their own separate cubicles, with dividing walls and curtains.

What are our plans for the future?

All new inpatient developments will be compliant with same-sex accommodation standards. Compliance with same-sex accommodation will continue to be monitored and reported Audits will continue to be carried out against privacy and dignity standards.

How will we measure success?

Success will be measured through improvement in our patient experience scores through in patient questionnaires and through the National Inpatient survey results. Success will also be measured through no instances of mixed sex accommodation, which will continue to be monitored by and reported to the Patient Experience Group and to the Board of Directors. Results of the Care Quality Commission's surveys are available on their website and progress of the Trust's actions against these surveys can be monitored through the Trust's Board papers on this site.

What do I do if I think I am in mixed sex accommodation?

We want to know about your experiences. Please contact a member of the ward staff in the first instance. Alternatively you can contact one of the Matron Team, PALs or the Patient Experience Officer if you have any comments or concerns.

How to contact us

Matron Team
Tel: +44(0)1926 495321 ext 8118

PALS
Tel: +44(0)1926 495321 ext 8020

Patient Experience
Tel: +44(0)1926 495321 ext 4676

Further information

You can find out more about the same-sex accommodation programme at NHS Choices.

We have Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems

How it works...

1. As you enter the hospital car park, your vehicle registration will be captured automatically by camera.
2. Park your vehicle in a designated car parking space
3. When you are ready to leave, please pay at one of the pay stations, by entering your vehicle registration and following the onscreen instructions
4. You now have the choice of paying with coins, notes and/or card including contactless payment
5. Once you have paid, please return to your vehicle and proceed to exit
6. If you have forgotten to pay for parking please contact Local Parking Security (LPS) by telephone on 01789 293273. Please listen to the information, you will be given the option to pay for "Hospital Parking" and will be asked to press option 1, please have your registration and information on where you parked ready to give to the call handler. This must be done within 24 Hours of leaving the Car Park. For your information their email address is LPS@localparkingsecurity.co.uk.

Please note our car parks can get extremely busy during peak times of the day, therefore where possible please consider alternative transport or leaving extra time for parking.

The car park is managed by a Trust nominated car parking company, so please ensure you pay for your parking before leaving otherwise you will be subject to a parking charge notice.

As a patient you might qualify for the Hospital Transport Cost Scheme, which helps some people with the costs of getting to and from hospital. Please contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).

Eligibility for Free Parking

You may be eligible for free parking. There are no charges for the following groups:

• Patients attending the Renal Unit for Dialysis.
• Visitors staying overnight in the Neonatal Unit
• Visitors for end-of-life patients
• Visitors to the complaints department (meetings)

Following the Government’s manifesto commitment in 2019 to make hospital car parking free for those in greatest need the following has been implemented:

Blue badge holders

This is for holders of a valid Blue Badge attending hospital as a patient or visitor, or for a disabled person employed by the hospital Trust. Blue Badge holder patients and visitors receive free parking for the duration of their attendance at, or visit to, the hospital. Blue Badge holder employees receive free parking while at the hospital for purposes relating to their employment.

Working with our external ANPR contractor (LPS) to enable the blue badge holder to scan (via a bar code) their blue badge at any of the pay on foot machines located in any SWFT public car parks. The machine will authenticate that the blue badge is valid and in-date and once the holder has inputted their registration number allow the holder free parking for the duration of their stay.

Frequent Outpatient’s attenders

Free parking will be provided for all patients who attend hospital for an appointment three times within a month and for an overall period of three months A month is defined as a period of 30 days

How it works:

1. You will be eligible for free parking as a frequent attendee after you have had a face-to-face appointment with a Consultant or Doctor at least three times in a month or over a period of a least three months. A month is defined as a period of 30 days
2. This does not include - Blood tests - Radiology tests - Hearing tests - Medical device fittings - Endoscopy appointments - Physiotherapy appointments - Maternity scans
3. You MUST pay for all visits and obtain a receipt
4. After your third visit please use this form to claim back your parking charges
5. The Trust will reimburse the cost of a 2nd class stamp
6. Please be aware that this form may be used for audit purposes to substantiate the claim
7. If you have any queries about parking please speak to someone from the department you are attending

Parents of sick children staying overnight

This is for a parent or guardian of a child or young person, under 18 years of age, who is admitted as an inpatient at hospital overnight. They receive free parking between the hours of 7.30pm and 8am while visiting the child. This would apply to a maximum of two vehicles.

For any Car parking queries, please contact Hotel Services at Hotel.Services@swft.nhs.uk

How to claim

In person at the cashiers office (Warwick Hospital only) - You will need to provide proof of benefit each time you make a claim and proof of appointment/attendance.
By post using HC5(T) form, available at cashiers/reception desks or the security office (Warwick Hospital only).

Patient multi-appointment tickets

If you are a patient required to attend regular clinics or outpatient appointments, you can qualify for a 5 or 10 visit multi-appointment ticket. This ticket will give you access to the car parking facility at Warwick Hospital for a 3 month period from date of activation. To get a multi-appointment ticket, please ask the receptionist for a form, and return the completed form back to Security Office.

We are committed to improving patient safety. We’ve joined Sign up to Safety, a national campaign that aims to reduce avoidable harm by 50%, and we are part of the Leading Improvement in Patient Safety Programme.

Below you’ll find more information about our infection control, helping stop patient falls, smoke-free sites and more.

Infection control

We have an Infection prevention and control team that develops and implements our strategy to help reduce infection risk at our hospitals. However, everyone can help keep infections under control, from using the alcohol hand gel before entering and when leaving a ward, to not visiting patients when you are unwell.

Smoke-free sites

In line with NICE guidelines and as part of our commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of the local population all of our sites became smoke free from 1 January 2016. Watch our video below for more information or read our Smoke Free Trust Policy.

Patient falls

One of our safety challenges is preventing patients from falling over. This can occur because patients are in unfamiliar surroundings, reduced mobility, effects of medication etc. You can help by bringing in secure fitting shoes or slippers, glasses and hearing aids, walking aids used at home, and easy fitting daytime clothes. We have also bought equipment to help reduce the risk such as lower beds and sensor alarms that alert staff a patient is getting out of bed.

Major incidents

As a major provider of healthcare services to Warwickshire and beyond, South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust is fully prepared to respond in the event of a major incident. This ensures that we are ready to manage the emergency with minimal disruption to our normal services.

Contact

Infection Prevention and Control Team
Tel: +44(0)1926 495 321 Ext 4213 (Monday -Friday, 9am to 5pm)

Related links

• Patient Advice Liaison Service (PALS)
• Being Open Policy: Communicating Incidents, Complaints and Claims with Patients and/or their Carers