Fox Ward

Fox Ward is on Level 5 Variety Club Building.

Fox Ward nurses’ station telephone number: 020 7829 8820.

If your child has any additional needs, please call in advance to let us know.

Fox Ward is primarily run by our highly qualified nursing team, but also includes bone marrow transplant consultants, specialist nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, healthcare assistants, play specialists and housekeeping staff.

The following members of staff will be available to help you during your stay on the ward:

Matron: Emma Gilbert / Carole Bell

Ward Manager: Alayna Boyle

Housekeeper: Renato De Silva, Mark Kitson, Gregor Dolanec

Play Team: Amy Lloyd and Amy Crowley

Specialties seen on the ward are Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT), Rheumatology, Immunology, Dermatology, Infectious Diseases,Haematology and Oncology.

Further Information can be found at:

Cancer Research UK

Macmillan Cancer Support

Anthony Nolan

CGD Society

Immune Deficiency Foundation

PID UK

Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society

As the children on Fox Ward have lowered immunity and are very susceptible to infections, we give them as much protection as possible by carefully restricting visiting.

Each cubicle on Fox Ward has space for one parent to stay overnight with their child. They also have an en-suite bathroom for you and your child to use.

Each patient is allowed three named visitors (usually family members) who can go into their cubicle. These visitors must be sure they do not have any infections.

Siblings (as long as they are well) can talk to their brother or sister for 30 minutes via an intercom between the cubicle and Fox Ward corridor.

Each cubicle has a sink just inside the entrance and, as an allocated visitor, you will need to wash your hands thoroughly every time you enter the cubicle.

We do everything we can to protect the privacy and dignity of your child at all times during their stay at GOSH. Your child will be allocated a bed space according to how their physical, psychological and social needs are best met while taking into consideration the needs of other children and young people on the ward at that time.

As part of our progress towards protecting your child’s dignity, we have introduced a new type of theatre gown. This provides unrestricted access for our nurses and doctors while keeping your child covered up and comfortable at all times.

For security reasons, the doors to Fox Ward are kept locked. Please ring the bell and when asked, state who you are and the name of the child you have come to visit.

All members of staff must wear an identity badge at all times. If someone not wearing an identity badge approaches you or your child at any time, please check with a member of staff. If you are at all worried, please call security on extension 5999.

Our security guards are on duty in the hospital 24 hours a day, seven days week. They are here to protect all our staff, patients and visitors and do regular patrols of all the buildings. Remember if you see anything out of the ordinary, ask a member of staff to contact security. Try not to bring valuable items to the hospital, as we cannot accept responsibility for the loss of or damage to any personal belongings.

All parts of the hospital site are protected by a very sensitive fire alarm system. If you are on the ward when the fire alarm sounds continuously, please remain calm and follow the instructions from the nurse in charge. If you are elsewhere in the hospital, please remain where you are and follow the instructions from a member of staff. Do not return to the ward until the area is declared safe by the hospital fire team.

Smoking is not allowed anywhere on GOSH property, which includes inside any of the buildings or areas nearby including entrances. Please do not smoke in our main entrance or near hospital buildings – we will ask you to move elsewhere.

We know that having visitors can make things seem more ‘normal’ for our patients. However, we have to have a balance between people visiting and our staff being able to care for our patients.

Please note that Fox Ward has strict guidelines on visitors, please speak to the nurse in charge.

You are welcome to bring presents for our patients but please be aware of some restrictions:

Latex - Latex (stretchy rubber) balloons are not allowed, as some of our patients have a life-threatening latex allergy. Foil balloons do not cause these problems so you are welcome to bring these.

Flowers – water in the vase can develop a bacterium that can cause infection in children, therefore flowers are not allowed on the ward.

Everything you bring in for your child should be washable to reduce the risk of infection. This includes soft toys. We would prefer you to leave soft toys at home unless your child is especially attached to a few favourite ones. These toys have to be washed and tumble-dried before admission. All toys need to be easy to wipe.

Some materials (i.e. fluffy/fleece blankets, teddies). Please check with the nurse as these are not allowed while in transplant precautions.

Please check with the nurse before you bring in food, such as chocolates and sweets, as patients may be on strict diets.

When you are visiting, please keep the area around the child’s bed tidy so that our nurses can reach the bed easily and quickly.

Please note that the hospital cannot accept responsibility for any loss of or damage to personal property.

Please ask the child’s parents for the name of the ward. Our reception staff can tell you where the child is staying but will ask you for proof of identity. Volunteers near the main reception desk can escort you to the ward or give you directions.

Occasionally, we have to move children from one ward to another. This can be due to change in condition, or clinical team taking care of the patient.

Please do not visit if you have a cold, cough or an upset stomach, or think you have recently been in contact with someone who has. You should wait until you have not had any symptoms for 48 hours before you visit. Other infectious diseases including chicken pox and measles could be particularly dangerous for some of our patients so please do not visit if you have been in contact with them recently.

If you are a parent or carer staying with your child and you become unwell during their stay we will ask you to leave the ward to go home to get better.

When you visit, please wash your hands thoroughly before you enter the ward and use the alcohol gel provided at each ward door. When you leave the patient, please wash your hands again and use alcohol gel. Every member of staff is reminded to wash their hands before visiting a child.

We will only give this information to the child’s parents, unless they give us permission to tell anyone else. If family and friends want to receive regular updates on a child’s progress, we suggest parents tell one person who is then responsible for telling everyone else. This is often easier to manage than making lots of phone calls every time a child’s condition changes.

Mobile phones are able to be used in the patient cubicles so yes, you will be able to contact them directly.

GOSH is a smoke-free zone, which means that you cannot smoke anywhere inside hospital property and adjacent areas, such as entrances to hospital buildings.

We will not tolerate any kind of inappropriate or threatening behaviour – verbal, physical or psychological – and we have a policy to ensure that this is dealt with appropriately. We can and will remove people from GOSH in these circumstances.

If you have any questions about visiting, please telephone the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (Pals) Office before you visit on 020 7829 7862.

Infants, children and young people will not be unnecessarily interrupted with either non-essential clinical or non-clinical activities during the advertised ward mealtimes. The protected time will be an hour at both lunch and dinner time. Also, they will not be unnecessarily interrupted when they are eating their meals or bottle/breastfeeding outside of these times where possible. Please see the posters on the ward for these times or ask a member of staff.

If your child wants a meal outside of these times, we have a selection of snacks or we can arrange for snacks to come from the hospital kitchen. Please speak with our housekeeper for this service.

A selection of cereals and toast-making facilities are available from the Parents’ Kitchen for parents.

If you find that breakfast stock, plates, bowls or cutlery are running low, please inform a member of staff as soon as possible.

Cooked breakfasts are not available on the ward but can be purchased from The Lagoon restaurant located on Level 2 of the Morgan Stanley Clinical Building.

You are a valued member of your child‘s healthcare team and we encourage you to take part in their care as much as possible while in hospital.

There is a sitting room for parents, which is shared with our neighbouring ward, Robin.

Parents are also welcome to use the shared kitchen to store and prepare food and hot drinks. There are some restrictions on which foods can be stored. Please contact the ward if you would like this list in advance.

Alternatively, there are a number of cafés and a canteen in the hospital that serve a wide range of hot drinks, hot food and snacks.