Your Ward and Outpatients Department

At Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) we have three private and international wards: Bumblebee Ward,  Butterfly Ward and Hedgehog Ward. We also have an outpatient department called Caterpillar outpatients.

Your child will be placed on the most appropriate ward for their clinical needs, which may be on one of our specialty wards. All our wards provide exceptional care with a welcoming environment. Our specialist wards include our Intensive Care Units (ICU) and High Dependency Units (HDU).

All wards are run by our highly qualified nursing team, but your child’s care will be led by our expert consultants and multidisciplinary team of doctors, clinical nurses, specialists, physiotherapists, healthcare assistants, play specialities, psychologists and housekeeping staff.

Each ward has its own consultant-led ward-based team of doctors, who will see your child every day and answer questions that you may have. 

Named nurse

Our nurses work in two shifts on the ward; a day shift and a night shift. Your child will be allocated a nurse for each shift and they will introduce themselves at the start of each shift.

Lead consultant

Your child will have a lead consultant who plans their care. The consultant assesses your child regularly and advises the ward doctors about any changes in care.

Our wards have ward-based consultant paediatricians who help co-ordinate your child’s care and supports them if there are any urgent issues.

Staff

All members of staff will always be wearing an identity badge. If someone not wearing a badge approaches your child, please check with a member of staff. Please view our useful uniform guide to understand the uniforms you can expect to see around the hospital. 

Daily ward round

Early each morning there is a daily ward round, led by a team of doctors and nurses. During the ward round, your child’s condition will be assessed and treatment plans will be proposed and communicated to you. It is very important that you as parents attend. Your presence enables you to raise any concerns you might have, and also to hear what the daily plan is for your child. 

Staying the night

A single bed is provided for a nominated parent or carer to stay the night on Bumblebee, Butterfly, and Hedgehog Wards and several of our specialty wards. For more information, please visit your specific ward page.

At GOSH, we practice family-centred care, which ensures a collaborative approach in care-giving and decision-making.To ensure the highest level of care for your child, GOSH encourages parents to spend as much time as possible with their child on the ward.

Visiting times

We operate specific visiting hours on our ward, and we ask that you observe the nursing and medical instructions regarding appropriate times for visiting. We provide facilities for one parent to stay overnight at the bedside, and it is expected that family who are not staying as the nominated carer overnight, leave the hospital by 8pm. 

You can find more information on visiting times on the individual ward pages. For more information about visiting the hospital, please visit our Visiting Information page.