Great Ormond Street Hospital, London

One of the UK's specialist children's cancer and leukaemia treatment centres.

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust
Great Ormond Street
London
WC1N 3JH

Telephone: 020 7405 9200
Website: www.gosh.nhs.uk
Map: to view the hospital on a map click here (this takes you to the Multimap site).
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There is a launderette available in the hospital for a small charge. There are two cashpoints in the entrance to the hospital, and branches of most banks can be found in Southampton Row. The nearest Post Office is adjacent to Russell Square tube station. The British Museum is nearby and can offer interesting activities for children.

Nearby Coram Fields is a 5–10 minute walk away and has an extensive play area for children who are well enough. They run summer play schemes, which can be used by brothers and sisters who are staying near the hospital. There is a swimming pool at the local health centre, which some parents have found a good place to unwind.

For travel information contact Transport for London (TFL) on 020 7222 1234 or visit the website at www.tfl.gov.uk

Tube: In the Bloomsbury area of London, the nearest Underground stations are Russell Square (Piccadilly Line) and Holborn (Central Line). The hospital is about a 5 minute walk from these stations.

Train: Euston, Kings Cross and St. Pancras mainline stations are the closest mainline stations and are about a 15 minute walk from the hospital.

Bus: Various buses stop within 15 minutes walk of the hospital.

Parking: There is very limited meter parking near the hospital. Families bringing a child for treatment, or collecting a child on discharge may be able to obtain a permit from the main hospital reception, but only a few are available. Please note that local parking restrictions are vigorously enforced.

Families driving should remember the Central London Congestion Charge of £8 per day. This must be paid, although it can be claimed back - ask at the hospital for details of how to do this.

General: There are several wards looking after oncology patients:

· Elephant Day Care Ward – for patients coming in for day treatment.
· Fox Ward –a bone marrow transplant unit which is open for non-cancer patients.
· Giraffe Ward – generally for leukaemia patients and younger children that will have longer stays (although, this is not a rule).
· Lion Ward – similar to Giraffe Ward, but tends to be for patients staying a shorter amount of time.

No. of Beds: This is subject to change on all wards.

Age Range: All ages.

Play: Each ward has a small play area for patients, which contains games, a TV and DVD player.

Learning: There is a hospital school for patients aged 5-19 experiencing a lengthy admission.  If your child is not well enough to go down to the school, long-stay patients are eligible for tutoring on the ward. The Giraffe Ward can also offer parents an occasional ‘sitting service’, so you are able to get a short break from the ward.

Other facilities: There is a TV available in the parents’ room.

Meal Times: These are at set times.  Breakfast is usually when the child wakes up, lunch at 12pm and tea at around 5pm.

Rounds: On the Lion and the Giraffe ward there are three teams of doctors who do four rounds a day.

Visiting Times: Open visiting, with consideration for others.

The hospital can provide a range of accommodation for parents - from a bed alongside your child on the ward (only 1 parent in the room at night), to self contained housing in neighbouring streets, where the whole family is entitled to stay while your child is in hospital. The latter gives priority to those families from outside the London area.

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