If your child has additional needs

We want every child and young person to have the best experience possible when visiting or staying at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). We will always try to make reasonable adjustments for children and young people with additional needs – for example, considering a child’s needs when allocating single cubicles, finalising theatre list order or planning outpatient appointments. We want to get to know your child so we can make sure we meet their needs during their admission. There are various measures we can put in place if your child has additional needs, but we need to know in advance wherever possible.

Some of the things we can do include:

• Providing communication support, such as signing or interpreting
• Supplying information in alternative formats and languages
• Making sure we have equipment such as hoists and slides ready
• Involving specialists, such as Health Play Specialists, Psychologists and Occupational Therapists

Find our more information about how we can help with specific impairments:

• Hearing impairment
• Visual impairment 
• Language and communication difficulties 
• Learning disabilities
• Mobility impairment 

The easiest way to tell us about your child and their needs is to use the Fingerprint section on MyGOSH once you have registered. More detail about how to do this is at https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/your-hospital-visit/mygosh.

The sort of things you can tell us about include:

• Your likes and dislikes
• Things that are important to me
• Things you must know about me
• Favourite toys and games

Another way to tell us about your child is to use a hospital passport – this contains similar details to Fingerprint but you can keep it on your phone or print out a copy for staff to refer to during your child’s admission.

There are lots of different templates for hospital passports available online through the Easy Health website.