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Patients

General information for patients and visitors

How do I get to St George’s Healthcare?

For information on the different ways of getting to St George's Healthcare please visit the find us pages. You can also use the Transport for London journey finder at tfl.gov.uk/journeyplanner. Just enter your start point and your destination for Journey Planner to show you the fastest, easiest and/or most accessible route.

If you need assistance on arrival, please tell the reception staff. They can arrange for a porter to help you, though please understand you may have to wait for this.

Non-emergency patient transport - this is the ambulance service that transports some patients to and from hospital. It is only provided for patients who have very specific needs. A patient’s needs will be reviewed each time they come to hospital.

Patients are assessed by the patient transport assessment and booking team (TAB). The assessment is based on Department of Health guidelines. Please call 020 8725 0808 (minicom 020 8725 1177) for more information.

By car – there are drop off and collection points outside most of the hospital’s wings. There are two car parks with entrances on Blackshaw Road. The charges are paid on exit and are currently (as of March 2010):

Please allow plenty of time for parking as the car parks can get busy. If you have not found a parking space within 15 minutes of going into the car park, you will be able to exit free of charge.

Concessions are available so please ask staff in the ward or department you are visiting if you are able to make a claim.

Blue badge holders may park free in:

By bike – there are bike racks located at each entrance.

By tube – Tooting Broadway underground station on the Northern Line is ten minutes walk from the hospital’s main pedestrian entrance on Effort Street.

By bus – bus routes 493 and G1 enter the grounds of St George’s Hospital. Several other bus routes serve roads within a short walk of the hospital:

Low-floor, wheelchair accessible buses run on all routes.

Help with travel costs

If you are on a low income or benefits you might be entitled to reclaim your public transport costs to and from the hospital under the Healthcare Travel Cost Scheme.

You will need to bring the following to the hospital cashier in the Grosvenor Wing entrance:

Please visit the hospital cashier or call 020 8725 1632 if you need more information.

At hospital

Where do I go when I arrive?

Your letter will tell you which wing to go to. There is a map on pages 18 and 19 of this leaflet. The map will show the nearest entrance point to your wing where you will find more detailed signs. If you are not sure, go to one of the reception desks in Grosvenor Wing (the main entrance) or Atkinson Morley Wing. Volunteers are also available around the hospital to help you find your way. They wear an identification badge and either a burgundy coloured blazer, sweatshirt or waistcoat.

Health information centre

The health information centre for patients and their families is located next to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) office, on the ground floor of Grosvenor Wing, near the main entrance of the hospital.

We think it's important for you to understand your condition and treatments as well as find out about services available. This will help you to feel more in control of your health.

You can drop in for information in a variety of formats such as leaflets, videos, audiotapes and interactive CD-ROM. We realise that patients and their families might have special needs or language requirements, so we also aim to provide information in Braille, large print, translated or picture information.

Help and support

What if I need help or support?

Please call the number on your letter if there is anything more we can do to meet your needs for your appointment or admission.

If you know someone with a learning disability who is coming into hospital or has an appointment please contact the consultant nurse for learning disabilities on 020 8672 1255 extension 2217 or bleep 8386.

If you need a language interpreter, please ask someone who speaks English to call the telephone number on the top of your appointment letter.

Signers can be arranged to help you during your visit. Please call the number on your letter to let us know what help you need. Please give us as much notice as possible.

Where can I get spiritual support?

Chaplains offer spiritual, sacramental and pastoral care to patients and their relatives and friends of any religious faith (or no particular faith). There is a chapel and a multi-faith prayer room on the ground floor of the St James Wing available for all to use for prayer and quiet reflection at any time. You can ask a nurse to contact the chaplaincy team for you or call 020 8725 3285.

Access

Wheelchair access – all pedestrian entrances to the hospital are suitable for wheelchairs. There are disabled toilets in key locations around the hospital including the main reception in Grosvenor Wing. Our public lifts are also suitable for disabled access.

If you would like your guide dog to visit you in hospital, or one of your visitors has a guide dog, please give the ward staff as much notice as possible so they can accommodate this.

What facilities are provided at the hospital?

Telephones

Pay telephones and mini-cab free-phones are available in all the main entrances.

Shops

There are a number of retail outlets, including:

M&S Simply Food store

Whistlestop newsagent and convenience shop

Toilets are located in every wing. Disabled access toilets are in the main entrance, Grosvenor Wing, Knightsbridge Wing, St James Outpatients Department, on the ground floor in Atkinson Morley Wing and Lanesborough Wing Outpatients Department.

Baby changing rooms are located in the main entrances of the Grosvenor Wing and Atkinson Morley Wing and outside the dining room on the first floor of the Lanesborough Wing.

Pharmacy

The Lanesborough Wing outpatient pharmacy is open to dispense St George’s Healthcare prescriptions from:

The St James Wing outpatient pharmacy is open from:

It is best to go to the pharmacy nearest to your clinic. There is also a pharmacy patient helpline that you can contact with your medicine-related enquiries, Monday to Friday 09.30 to 17.00 hours, 020 8725 1033.

Places to eat

Refreshment

Please look at your appointment letter before having any refreshments. You might have instructions not to eat or drink anything before your appointment.

ingredients logorestaurant (Lanesborough Wing)

M&S café

Lanesborough Wing outpatient café

St James Wing outpatient café

ingredients logorestaurant (Atkinson Morley Wing)

Peabody’s

Keeping safe

Safety information

Smoking is not permitted in any buildings or grounds owned by St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust.
If you want to try to stop smoking, please:

If you hear a fire alarm, please follow the instructions of the staff. Green signs show the way to fire exits.

Mobile phones can interfere with sensitive equipment in some areas of the hospital – please look out for the signs. Please also be considerate and switch them off or on silent while you are in the clinics and wards. Please do not use camera phones in the hospital.

Aggression - we have a zero tolerance policy. This means that violence and aggression is not acceptable to patients, visitors or staff. Our staff should care for you without the fear of abuse or insult.

Knowing if someone works for the hospital

How you’ll identify us

All staff in our hospital wear identity badges, which should be visible at all times. Ask any member of staff to show you their badge, and they’ll be happy to do so. You can also expect staff to introduce themselves. Many staff such as nurses, healthcare support workers and domestic assistants wear uniforms. Doctors and consultants don’t have uniforms but may wear a white coat.

Being involved in your care and treatment

Consenting to treatment

We want to make sure that you fully understand your condition and the treatment choices available to you. Before you receive any treatment your doctor, nurse, therapist or pharmacist can help you:

If you decide not to have a treatment or take a medicine, tell your doctor or pharmacist. They can support you and explain how this could affect you.

Treatment will not be carried out without your consent unless it is an emergency and you are unconscious.

Will any samples or specimens be taken from me?

Sometimes samples or specimens are taken from you during your treatment to help us understand your condition or plan your treatment. If you are not happy for these samples or specimens to be used for research purposes, then please make this clear to a doctor or nurse who is involved in your care.

What happens to my information?

Information about you

When you are a patient, we ask you for information so that you can receive appropriate care and treatment. We take the confidentiality of your information extremely seriously. If you want to know more about how we use your information, please look on our website at the address below or ask for a copy of Download free PDF reading software [opens in a new window] Your Information – what you need to know

Research at St George’s Healthcare

St George’s Healthcare is a major research centre involved in developing future treatments and care. You might be asked to take part in a research study. The researcher will explain the study in detail to you, including why it is necessary and what it will involve. If you decide that you would like to be involved, you will be asked to sign a consent form. If you do not want to take part, this will not effect your treatment in any way.

Will I be seen by students?

St George’s Healthcare is responsible for training a wide range of health professionals. This means that students, supervised by qualified staff, might be involved in your care. Please tell the doctor or nurse in charge if you do not want a student to be present. This will not effect your treatment in any way.

Can I have a copy of my medical letters?

Please ask your doctor, nurse or therapist if you would like a copy of your medical letters. To find out more, search ‘copying letters to patients’ at www.dh.gov.uk

Infection control

We all carry bacteria (germs) on our skin or in our bodies. These bacteria can be passed from person to person. There is a higher chance of cross-infection in hospital because of close contact between patients and staff. It will never be possible to prevent all infections acquired in hospital. For example, patients can infect themselves with their own bacteria.

The best way to prevent infection from spreading is good hand hygiene. All staff, patients and visitors should wash their hands before and after touching food, another person or using the toilet.

Help us to stay clean and prevent infections by:

Tell us what you think of the care

What do you think of our services?

Your views about our services are important to us and we welcome your comments. Please ask your nurse for the leaflet Help us to help you or send an email to:
complaints.compliments@stgeorges.nhs.uk

We also gather feedback about our services to improve patient experience. We use patient experience trackers (PETs). These are electronic units that collect feedback on the experiences of our patients. The PET unit has five questions and a choice of four General Information answers for each question.

The questions are available in several languages and large print. All information collected is treated in the strictest confidence and is anonymous (this means we do not know which patient has given which feedback). Each ward or department will display a poster to show how they are performing and what plans they have taken to improve the service we provide.

Getting advice

How do I get advice?

If you have any questions or worries about any aspect of your care, please speak to the nurse in charge. If you remain concerned, you can contact the patient advice and liaison service (PALS). The PALS team is here to let you know about our services, listen to your experiences and help you to resolve any problems you might have with our services.

To contact PALS, you can:

Giving to George’s

You can support a part of St George’s Hospital that has made a difference to your life or someone you love. The St George’s Hospital Charity uses donations to provide extra equipment, training for staff and improvements to the hospital’s buildings and gardens. Donations can benefit a particular ward or department, allowing you to support the area most important to you. Alternatively, you can donate a sum of money to the general benefit of patients and staff at St George’s. You can make a donation in a number of ways:

Or if you would like to discuss a donation, then please contact the Fundraising Office on 020 8725 4916 or email: giving@stgeorges.nhs.uk