GOSH Open Day: share your vision for future GOSH

Children, young people and families are invited to our Open Day to learn more about how GOSH operates today and explore how the hospital could operate in 20 years' time.

Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) invites patients and their families to attend a space themed Open Day on 9 July 2019, from 11am to 3pm.

There will be activities for all ages and a pop-up moon area,which will be quieter for those with specific communication needs.

There will be a time trail through the hospital where you will have the opportunity to learn about teams and departments who help you today. You will then take a leap into the future by exploring everything from buildings to technology.

SOTA the robot will meet you at the back of the Lagoon restaurant where you can share your own vision of GOSH in 20 years' time.

Access: 

Chief Executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital, Matthew Shaw, said:

On the day, come along and discover what we're doing today, what we'll be doing in the next couple of years and what we plan to do in the future.

• GOSH Arts – did you know there is a dedicated Arts Team who bring dance, theatre, music, painting and drawing to patients? You could see a live theatre performance at your bedside! To get involved in their work come and meet them.
  
• Harvey’s Gang – we offer tours of our laboratories for patients who have lots of blood tests. Follow the route your blood sample takes, see how it is tested, see what happens to it and talk to the technicians in the lab. You get a laboratory Coat, trainee scientist badge to take home!
  
• Hospital School – yes school! We teach children and young people who are missing long periods of time away from school whilst they are in hospital. We teach at the bedside and in the main schoolroom. Subjects are varied and exciting and will always try to link in with the pupil’s own school. The school brings the outside world in and we enjoy welcoming visitors –our pupils have even been lucky enough to meet and question the astronaut Tim Peake! Come and find out more at our stand.
  
• Learning Disability Team – please note this team will be in the pop-up moon area behind the Lagoon Restaurant in the ‘GOSH in the future’ area. Find out how we can assist communication for those with specific communication needs, where to get Easy Read information sheets, how to get an alert on a patient’s file to help staff be aware and plan for admissions/caring needs of those with a learning disability. We will also have Hospital Passports available on the day.
  
• Operating Theatre Tours – do you have a surgery coming up and you want to know what will happen, where, why it smells funny? Have you ever wondered what happens behind the operating theatre doors? Meet our Theatre team to find out more.
  
• Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) – Don’t know where the laundry is? Something you are worried about and don’t know who can help you? PALS know. For anything you might need, big or small – visit our PALS stand.
  
• The Play Team – find out what they do and how they can help you. Are you scared of needles? Bored on the wards? The team can help you!
  
• Social Work Team – we have a team of Social Workers and Family Support Workers who can give you practical advice and help on topics such as welfare, benefits and financial support. For example, you can visit them to find out how to get support for your other children if they are worried about their brother or sister who is ill.

• Careers festival –twice a year we hold a careers festival specifically for our patients and siblings to meet people from a variety of industries and equip them with career confidence-for example, how to write a good CV. To find out more visit our stand.
  
• Charity –Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity supports the hospital, staff, patients and their families by funding four key areas: rebuilding and refurbishment, support staff, families and patients, pioneering research and helping to purchase lifesaving medical equipment. Want to get involved in supporting the hospital and charity but don't know how? Visit this stand!
  
• Estates and facilities – did you know we are opening the first dedicated medical facility for children with sight and hearing loss in the UK? Come and find out more in the Lagoon restaurant.
  
• Foundation Trust Membership – members are people who want to find out more about Great Ormond Street and support its work. If you sign up you’ll receive newsletters to tell you what's going on at the Trust and the GOSH Charity, and how you can join in. Find out more and sign up for free at the stand.
  
• Friends and Family Test – help us make sure our hospital is fit for the future by giving feedback every time you attend GOSH via the Friends and Family Test. You can find pirate themed information boards across the hospital which have cards for you to fill in and post boxes for you to pop the cards in. Look out for text messages too as some families may receive text Friends and Family Test reminders.
  
• Growing up and gaining independence – are you at secondary school yet? If you are, it might be a good time to think about the skills and information you need to start taking on more responsibility for your healthcare. Sounds scary? Sounds interesting? Visit our stand to have a chat.
  
• Takeover Challenge – once a year we invite patients and their siblings to take over the hospital! This is a chance to see behind-the-scenes and how the hospital works. You could be anything from Chief Exec for the day, to a scientist in the lab. Visit our stall to sign up.
  
• Volunteering – have you seen those helpful people in yellow shirts? Do you know what they can help you with? Volunteers run weekend activity clubs, help out the hospital radio can give you a haircut and much more! We’ve also trialled a youth volunteering programme for young people who are at school of a weekday. To learn more stop by.
  
• Young People’s Advisory Grou (YPAG)p – interested in research and science? YPAG meet with researchers and give them a young person’s view on topics - visit the stall and find out more.
  
• Young People’s Forum – are you a GOSH patient or sibling? Want to make the hospital better? Whether it’s food tasting or talking to architects – you can be part of GOSH’s future.

• Digital Research, Informatics and Virtual Environments (DRIVE) – did you know we have the first unit of its kind in the world! We have partnered up with University College London and the following companies: ARM, Barclays, Microsoft, NTT DATA, Samsung, XTX Markets. We hope to make sure technology and digital developments completely change care and treatment in the future and make better experiences for patients and their families. Come along and meet SOTA the robot!
  
• Electronic patient records – did you know we now have digital electronic records at GOSH? If you sign up to MyGOSH you can look at your appointments, letters, test results and more. Visit this stall to sign up to MyGOSH.
  
• Genomics at GOSH – learn more about our new Genetics Hub by making genetic trait jewellery and drawing genetic family trees.
  
• GOSH in the future – tell staff what GOSH should look like in the future. We’ll have some questions for you but you can ask us questions too!
  
• Research – did you know that research helps us find new treatments for children with rare conditions? Try hands-on science activities, meet our amazing research teams and find out how you can get involved in research at GOSH.
  
• Sustainability – GOSH has been actively trying to improve its environmental impact as a hospital for many years – want to know how we are doing it and how well we’ve been at it? Visit our stand.