There are many opportunities for you to get involved in helping us to develop and shape the services that we provide to ensure that they are truly patient and family-centred.
You could become a volunteer, help with fundraising, or feed back your comments, concerns and compliments about services at GOSH to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (Pals).
Watch this space as well for some of our exciting projects we are developing, including:
Please note that anyone applying for one of our current opportunities must be a Foundation Trust member. To become a member fill in our online membership form.
Would you like to join our Young People's Forum?
Are you a patient or have you ever been a patient at GOSH? You may even have a brother or sister at the hospital or would like to learn more about the work that it does.
If you are aged between 11-25 and can spare two hours every few weeks, why not join a young people's forum? It's aimed at helping us to improve in areas such as dignity and respect and to provide age-appropriate activities and entertainment for our teenage patients.
The forum will give you a real say in improving the hospital's services. You will learn new skills, have the opportunity to build your confidence, improve your communication skills and meet other people. Most importantly, you will be helping to make sure that GOSH provides its patients with the best experience it possibly can.
The forum is open to anyone aged between 11-25, and we are particularly keen to hear from you if:
If you are interested or would like to find out more, please email Rehana Ahmed on Rehana.Ahmed@gosh.nhs.uk with your name, age, and a few sentences explaining what you feel you could contribute to the forum and what you are hoping to get out of joining it.
Acting together: louder than words
If you're a staff member, patient or family member, come and tell us about your experience of working and coming to GOSH. We want to change the way we operate using your thoughts and ideas to improve the hospital experience for all.
Join us on Saturday 22 June 2013 from 10.30am-2pm in Weston House, Great Ormond Street.
Lunch will be provided for patients and families and travel expenses will be reimbursed.
For more information and to book your place, please contact Rehana Ahmed on Rehana.Ahmed@gosh.nhs.uk
Weekend and evening services
We'd like to hear from you about your views on extending appointment slots for outpatients, diagnostic procedures (such as MRI) and procedures into the evenings and weekends.
This information will help us understand in which areas we should look to extend our opening hours, and how much demand there is for appointments in the evenings and weekends. It will also help us understand whether appointments over extended hours would be unsuitable for some families and therefore how much choice we need to be able to offer.
Please take a few minutes to complete this short survey by Friday 5 July 2013 and tell us how we should run our services to make sure we are providing the best experience for our patients and families.
Find out more about the Medicine, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Services division involvement strategy
The Medicine, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Services division (which covers gastroenterology, endocrinology, metabolic medicine, renal, adolescent medicine, therapies, psychosocial and family services, radiology, genetics and pharmacy) is planning and making improvements to the way services are designed and delivered. Please take a look at their Involvement Strategy for more information. You can also contact Anna Jebb on Anna.Jebb@gosh.nhs.uk or Mark Goninon on Mark.Goninon@gosh.nhs.uk
Wayfinding and signage questionnaire
Over the last few years, GOSH has been working hard to improve wayfinding. Hospital signage has been standardised, each building has been given a unique colour, 'you are here' information boards have been installed, and animal graphics have been incorporated into the signage in some of our recent redevelopments.
We would appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to complete our survey. Your feedback will be used to help us improve signage in and around the hospital.
If you have any further comments or suggestions, please contact redevelopment.projects@gosh.nhs.uk or call 020 7829 7810.
Proposed changes affecting Kingfisher and Rainforest Wards
The Medicine, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Services division are proposing to change how we provide inpatient care for the gastroenterology, endocrinology and metabolic medicine specialities. This change will affect Kingfisher and Rainforest Wards.
Find out more information about this public consultation and how you can let us know your thoughts and feedback on this proposal by downloading the public consultation documentation (PDF, 138KB).
Would you like to help the Gastroenterology team and join the steering group of the Patient and Family Centred Care programme?
The Gastroenterology service is part of a high profile service improvement programme in partnership with the King's Fund and the Health Foundation. The Patient and Family Centred Care programme (PFCC) offers tested techniques to improve processes of care and staff patient interactions, which together affect patients' and staff experience of care. Find out more about the PFCC methodology (PDF, 188KB).
The Gastroenterology team has chosen the endoscopy pathway as a focus for this work, with the aim to consistently exceed patient and carer expectations. This will include reviewing the decision making processes, how we communicate, the information we provide, patient experience on admission and post investigation arrangements.
We are looking for patients and carers to contribute to the steering group of the PFCC and/or get involved in specific work-streams, as we require your experience, skills and knowledge for this work to be a success and ensure you shape how care is organised.
If you are interested in participating in this programme and working with the gastroenterology team or would like to find out more, please email Andrea Cuff or call 020 7405 9200, ext 5285.
Are you a parent or carer of a child (under 16 years of age) being treated or previously treated under the palliative care team at GOSH?
We are looking to recruit parents or carer representatives to join a focus group to discuss how a specialist pharmacist could help families with their medication needs and improve patient experience.
We anticipate a one off time commitment of two hours at a focus group towards the end of June 2013 (date and time to be advised once we have an idea of numbers).
If you are interested or would like to find out more, please email Nanna Christiansen with your name, age and a sentence outlining your connection to the palliative care team. We hope to have 6-12 parents and carers for a focus group meeting at the end of June 2013.
Teens needed to help improve our website
Are you a patient of GOSH with a real story to tell? We are seeking teenagers with a passion for writing to share their experiences of GOSH to help reassure other young people coming to the hospital. You might like to talk about your condition, or about what it's like coming to and staying in hospital. Send your story via our form and we'll be in touch to let you know when we've added it to the website.
We’re also looking for people who would be willing to help us improve the design and content of the teenagers section of the hospital website. All it involves is us contacting you now and then to get your feedback and input as we develop different sections online.
Please email us if you’re interested in getting involved in this project.
Would you like to become a Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's charity ambassador?
We want to form a network of people, based across the south-east of England, who can act as an ambassador for the charity - organising fundraising activities, representing the charity in their local area and helping to engage people with the work of the hospital. Find out more about becoming a charity ambassador.
