What to bring

If you will be staying in the hospital overnight it is a good idea to bring all or some of the following items:

• Change of clothes
• Nightwear
• Nappies
• Slippers
• Toothbrush and toothpaste

Also please make sure that you bring with you:

• Any medication you may need
• Any special foods or milk (as some may not be available from the milk kitchen). 

If you or your parents or carers have any additional needs, including disabilities, that it may help us to know about, please ask them to contact the relevant ward or department manager or the Family Information Room on 0117 342 8065.

How we care for you

We encourage your parents and carers to keep taking care of you as they would at home, if they are able to spend time at the hospital with you. The nurses and doctors will look after you too.  When you arrive, the nurses will talk to you and your parents and carers about how this will work.

Visiting hours

Your parents or carers are welcome on the ward all day but visitors will need to know when they can come and visit you. Visiting hours are different for each of the wards so they will need to contact the wards on the numbers on page three to find out when they can come. 

Our address 

People may want to send you cards or gifts when you're in hospital.  Please ask them to include your name and ward number. Our address is Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Paul O'Gorman Building, Upper Maudlin Street, Bristol BS2 8BJ.

Important phone numbers

Main reception - 0117 342 8460 or 0117 342 8461
Outpatients - 0117 342 8399
Admissions - 0117 342 8440
Ward 31 (Surgical) - 0117 342 8331
Ward 32 (Cardiac) - 0117 342 8332
Ward 33 (Medical) - 0117 342 8333
Ward 34 (Oncology) - 0117 342 8334
Ward 35 (Adolescent) - 0117 342 8335

Ward 36 (Short Stay) - 0117 342 8336
Ward 37 (Renal) - 0117 342 8337
Ward 38 (Medical) - 0117 342 8338
Ward 39 (Clinical Decisions Unit) - 0117 342 8339
Oncology Day Beds - 0117 342 8145
BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant Unit) - 0117 342 8266

Helping to keep our hospital clean

To make sure that our hospital stays clean and germ-free please remember the following: 

• Wash your hands with soap and water, or use the alcohol gel, when you come in or go out.
• If bottles of alcohol gel are empty please tell a member of staff. 
• If someone has forgotten to wash or put alcohol gel on their hands, please tell them - staff are happy to be reminded! 
• Please do not bring a large number of personal things into the hospital as this may make your bedspace difficult to clean. 

Please make sure that no-one visiting you is unwell with a cough or cold or upset tummy and then only visit the hospital if they have been feeling well again for 48 hours.  If you are coming into hospital and have been feeling unwell with a cough or cold or upset tummy, please ask your parents or carers to contact the hospital as soon as possible for advice. 

How to get here 

We are based in the centre of Bristol, close to the bus and train stations. 

Coming by train

The nearest station to the hospital is Bristol Temple Meads . You can get a free bus from the railway station to the hospital.

Coming by bus

The nearest station is Bristol Bus Station. Information about local bus services can be found on the TravelBristol website

For more information on this please contact the Family Information Room on 0117 342 8065. 

Coming by car 

The easiest way is to come to the end of the M32 (from the M4/M5) and bear right, with the Cabot Circus shopping centre on your left. Follow the road until you come to a roundabout and go straight ahead taking the second exit, then carry on past the bus station and new law courts on your left. Continue to follow the road through the traffic lights and you will see the hospital a little further up the road on the right hand side. 

You will recognise us by the large multi coloured lollipops which stand outside the hospital's entrance.

Parking 

Your parents/carers may need to know that there is a limited amount of parking at the hospital. They can park in the following places: 

• Any of the Trust pay and display car parks. The closest to the children's hospital is on Horfield Road, outside the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre.
• Blue Badge holders can use most of the pay and display spaces within the Trust car parks free of charge, except for the short term waiting spaces outside the main entrance and emergency departments and the Bristol Heart Institute (BHI).
• There are three disabled parking bays next to the lollipops at the front of the hospital.

• There is a large NCP car park just up from the children's hospital (go straight on at the traffic lights by the hospital's entrance and turn left down the cobbled road a bit further up the hill.)
• Outpatients may find it helpful to park in the Cabot Circus shopping centre car park and use the free bus service to the hospital.

If you are staying overnight or longer, please ask at reception when you arrive to receive a reduced rate parking permit. 

Food for parents and visitors 

Here's where your parents and visitors can buy food: 

• Vending machines in the outpatient and A&E departments on level 3 and in the main reception on level 2.
• A WRVS shop on level 2 in the reception area, open from 9 o'clock in the morning to 4 o'clock in the afternoon daily.
• A canteen on level 5 is open from 8 o'clock in the morning to half past 3 in the afternoon serving hot food and snacks, with vending machines available too.
• Your parents and carers can prepare and store food for themselves in the kitchens on levels 5 and 6. Tea and coffee are provided by Friends for Parents but they will need to buy their own milk. They'll also need to ask the ward staff for a key to the fridges on level 5.
• There are rules about what food you can bring into hospital - take a look at our ebook, Bringing food into hospital

You'll find the food folder at your bedside.  It was designed by patients to tell you all about hospital food and includes the daily menu to help you decide what to eat.

• On the ground floor of the Bristol Royal Infirmary next door, there's a larger WRVS shop open until 7 o'clock in the evening and a café next to the shop is open until 5 o'clock in the evening.
• Hot food is served in the evening at the Bistro in the Old BRI Building, a five minute walk from the children's hospital. 
• There are also lots of local cafés and shops near to the hospital.

If you get hungry between meals, ask for the snack trolley!
There are rules about what food you can bring into hospital, read our ebook on bringing food into hospital to find out more. 

Places for your parents and carers to stay

If you are coming to hospital for an overnight stay there is a fold-out bed next to most patient beds where one parent or carer can sleep. These fold-out beds are not available on Ward 36 but there are comfy recliner chairs instead.

If more than one parent or carer is coming to stay they may be able to stay in Ronald McDonald House, which is neaby and has been kindly paid for by charities. Your parents and carers can ask a nurse on your ward about this when you arrive.

If your parents or carers would like information on where to stay before you come to hospital, they can speak to someone in the Family Information Room by calling 0117 342 8065, who will be able to help your parents or carers decide. Unfortunately we won't be able to pay for their stay if it's away from hospital. If you'd like to look at the hotels and guest houses nearest the hospital, please visit: http://visitbristol.co.uk/site/accommodation 

Hospital school 

If you are in hospital for more than five days the hospital school will get in touch with you to help you keep up with your studies.  

Telephones 

There are payphones on every floor of the hospital next to the lifts. Mobile phones can be used in the hospital main reception, all lift lobbies and on some wards.  If the nurses say it's ok to keep you phone on, please switch it to silent or vibrate so it doesn't disturb other patients.  

Cash points 

Your parents or carers can use the NatWest cash point in the Bristol Royal Infirmary, which is the hospital next door to the children's hospital. 

Internet access 

You can use WIFI on most wards to access the internet. Please ask staff to get you a password. Your parents and carers can also arrange temporary membership at the Bristol Central Library where they can book to use the internet for two hours per day. 

Work experience and healthcare professional students 

We are a teaching hospital which means that student doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals train here. Hospital staff will always ask you before any of these students are involved in your care and treatment as part of their training. 

Work experience students from schools and colleges who are thinking about working in hospital may also be here during your stay or treatment in hospital.  You can ask that they don't stay while you are having your treatment or are staying on the ward if you would prefer.

Further information

We hope that this information booklet will have answered most of your questions and will help take away some of the worry involved in a visit to hospital. If you would like any more information please contact the Family Information Room which is open Monday - Friday from 9 o'clock in the morning to 5 o'clock in the evening (telephone: 0117 342 8065). Outside of these hours please contact the main reception on 0117 342 8460 or 0117 342 8461, or look through this website. We look forward to meeting you soon.