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Your stay
Infants and children who need to be admitted are usually cared for in ward 7 West. This ward, which was re-furbished in 1991, has three 'high dependency' areas, mainly used for looking after patients who have returned from the intensive care unit after heart surgery, as well as three isolation rooms and a lower dependency area.
There is a play area and parents' waiting room. Parents are encouraged to visit and to be with their children as much as possible and facilities are available for many parents to stay in the hospital or in adjacent accommodation at a small charge.
A friendly and supportive group of nursing and medical staff, play therapists, teachers, social workers and clerical personnel make up a professional and coordinated team to care for the children and to help parents during hospitalisation.
Before admission it is often necessary to organise preliminary tests and checks (including blood tests) to ensure that all the results are 'up to date'. These are often carried out one (or two) days prior to the main 'admission' to the ward. Such "Pre-admission" visits may necessitate several hours at the hospital, but usually do not require that the child stays overnight.
Admission procedures depend on the urgency and nature of the stay in hospital but parents will need to complete documentation either before or at the time of admission and may need to go to the Admissions Office on the ground floor of the hospital. At this time the hospital staff will need to know whether parents have private health insurance and if so whether they wish for their child to be managed as a private patient by the Cardiologist or Surgeon of their choice?
The duration of hospital stay will depend on the reason for admission and the speed of recovery after investigations or surgery. Some children, who come in for tests (such as a "Catheter" test), may be able to leave hospital in the evening, after their tests have been completed. Others may need to stay overnight and, after surgery, many will need to stay for several days.