Coming into Hospital

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If you are coming into hospital for treatment, this section of the website covers what you need to know about your stay and your discharge home.

Please ring the number on your admission letter if you have any queries or need to tell us about anything before you come into hospital.

What to bring with you

Please bring your admission letter and contact details for your GP and next of kin. You will also need to bring:

  • Any medicines, inhalers, glasses and hearing aids that you use
  • Any mobility aids you use (if you forget, please ask a friend or relative to bring them in for you)
  • A small bag containing your toiletries, night clothes and some comfortable day clothes

Do not bring any alcohol, illegal drugs or tobacco. The hospital is a no smoking area and drugs and alcohol can interfere with your care.

Do not bring valuables or large amounts of money. We cannot accept responsibility for any items that are not handed in for safe keeping during your stay.

Mobile charging stations

Airedale Hospital and Community Charity, the official NHS charity for Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, has benefited from an NHS Charities Together grant to fund two ChargeBoxFAST charging stations, each costing £12,000.

The units provide 30 minutes of free, fast charging for all mobile devices and can be used by patients, visitors, and staff at Airedale Hospital.

One box has been installed in the hospital’s main entrance, which is a central location for the wards, and the other is located in the Emergency Department (ED) where people may spend lengthy amounts of time waiting..

Who will be caring for you?

You will be cared for by a multi-professional team including:

  • A consultant and their team of doctors
  • Nurses and nursing support staff
  • Other members of the team such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, pharmacists and porters.

You can identify most staff by the colour of their uniforms. If you are not sure who someone is, please ask them.

You can watch the videos below to see what to expect from the nurses, midwives and health care support workers who will be caring for you.

Coming for surgery and want to know more about your patient journey?

If you’re coming in for surgery and want to know more about what to expect during your patient journey you can visit our special site here to find out more.

It has information on your experience with us including before your appointment, your arrival, on the ward, anaesthesia, surgery and recovery.

There are videos from our team and patient stories to help you understand your care.

There is also a video on how we support people with disabilities.

What to expect from us

We expect all our staff to be friendly and easy to talk to. Staff should always tell you their name, and if you have not met them before, what their job is.

All staff wear an identity badge which gives their name, occupation and picture.

If you have any worries, questions or problems, please talk to the nurse in charge of your ward, who will be able to help you.

Meals, drinks and snacks during your stay

We will provide you with breakfast, lunch and evening meal at your bedside each day. A choice of portion sizes is available.

Drinks are served on the ward throughout the day. There will always be water available at your bedside.

Cakes and biscuits are provided twice a day, and snacks are available 24 hours a day.

Special and therapeutic diets are also catered for. Please let ward staff know if you have any dietary needs.

We encourage family members to come and help feed their loved ones at meal times. We also have volunteer mealtime assistants.

Going home

We will tell you the date and time that we expect you to go home from hospital as soon as we can.  This is called your ‘expected date of discharge’. We will let you know if this changes.

Support for patients with additional needs

We are committed to providing care centred around the individual needs of each person.

This includes people with disabilities or sensory impairments, people who speak languages other than English, and people with dementia.

We will involve you, your family and carers in assessing your needs and planning your care.

We want to make sure that you have access to information you can understand, communication support when you need it, and any other support to keep you safe in hospital.

Let us know what your needs are as soon as you can. Then we can put the right support in place for you, your family and carers.

Our hospital is committed to meeting the communication and support needs of our patients and their carers. We have developed a communication toolkit to help support conversations between staff and patients using pictures and symbols.

How do you communicate?

Easy read information

  • You can use the Easyhealth website to find health information that is easy to read and understand.
  • We can print easy read leaflets for you from other health websites.
  • We can also help you to order easy read books and dvds on health topics.
  • Just get in touch.
Website What can you find on this site?
Easyhealth You can read and print leaflets about health, food and exercise.

You can watch health videos.

You can find out about useful things for your health care, and useful organisations.

Good health care for all You can get advice and tips about using the NHS.

You can find out what to expect and how to get help.

Questions to ask You can find out what to ask when you go:

– to the doctor

– or to a hospital

Macmillan Cancer Support You can read about cancer, including:

– signs of cancer;
– tests for cancer;
– types of cancer;
– treatment;
– living with cancer.

Seeability You can read about having your eyes tested and wearing glasses.

You can find out about eye problems and eye operations.

Veterans and those serving in the Armed Forces

Veteran aware logo

Our Armed Forces Advocate – Martin Flint-Johnson

Our armed forces advocate works to identify and talk to ex-armed forces or serving personnel that come into the hospital and their immediate families to see if there is any additional support that could help them.

If you are a patient at Airedale Hospital or in the community, or a member of your family is and you have served in the Armed Forces, Martin is available to speak to, Monday to Friday, phone 07880 441352, email: martin.flint-johnson@nhs.net

To read more about our Armed Forces Advocate and how we support veterans and those serving in the Forces go to Armed Forces Advocate page here.

 

 

Helping you get in shape for surgery

Getting yourself in shape before your surgery is important, as it will positively impact on how well your surgery goes and your recovery afterwards.

We have a plan to support you along the way.

On this site you will find lots of information and you will hear from some of the team you might meet when you come into hospital for surgery.

Living well - making the healthy choice the easy choice

Living Well aims to make the healthy choice the easy choice for people in Bradford District.

Our health can be affected by choices we make and the communities where we live, work and play.

Lots of people live with long term health conditions. Our goal is to lower the cases of these often preventable health conditions and to help people live longer, healthier lives.

If you would like more information and support to lose weight, increase physical activity or stop smoking then visit the Living Well website.