Children and families

Coming to GOSH

Outpatients

The majority of our patients come to GOSH as an outpatient. That is, they attend one of our outpatient clinics rather than staying in hospital.

This information is designed to help you prepare for your child’s outpatient appointment and explain what you can expect to happen during your visit. If you have any questions, please ask a member of staff.

When you receive your appointment letter

We will have discussed your preferred date and time to come to GOSH for your child’s outpatient appointment in a telephone call a few weeks previously. We will confirm this by sending an appointment letter and some forms for you to fill in and send back if your child is new to GOSH.

If this date and time becomes inconvenient, please telephone the Appointments Centre as soon as possible so that we can offer it to another child in the queue. Around 15,000 appointments are wasted each year because families do not turn up at the hospital. If you do have to cancel, we will arrange another appointment as soon as possible.

Location of our outpatient clinics

The Outpatient Department is changing and expanding. As a result, some of our clinics have moved location. Your appointment letter should give details of where the appointment will be held, either in the Outpatient Department at GOSH, or in our consulting rooms next door at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital (RLHH). If you are not sure where to go, please show your appointment letter to a member of staff and ask for directions.

The day before your child’s appointment

It is dangerous for some of our patients to come into contact with people who could have certain infectious diseases. If your child has or, in the three weeks before the appointment has been in contact with a person with measles, mumps, chicken pox or a tummy bug, please telephone us and do not bring him or her to GOSH. We will then arrange another appointment as soon as possible.

If your child has Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), please ring the department to warn us, as your child will need to be seen in a special isolation room. When you arrive at the hospital, please ask the receptionist to tell the clinic nurse too. Please do not go to the clinic area but wait in the isolation room.

When you arrive at GOSH

If your child’s appointment letter states that your child’s appointment is in the Outpatient Department at GOSH, please report in at the reception desk, which is through the doors to the right of the main reception desk.

If it says that your child’s appointment is in our consulting rooms at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital (RLHH), please go straight there and report to the reception desk on the first floor.

The receptionist will check that we have the correct details for your child and show you where you need to go for your appointment. He or she will also explain about your next appointment, if necessary.

The consultation

Your appointment letter will usually give the name of the consultant caring for your child. Our consultants work in teams with other doctors, called registrars or specialist registrars. We cannot guarantee that you will always see the consultant, but we can assure you that the consultant is kept fully informed of the results of appointments and tests.

Multidisciplinary teams of specialists, such as dietitians, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and psychologists, run some clinics. You may see a number of different people during your child’s appointment but they should always introduce themselves to you.

Although your clinic appointment is for a set length of time, some appointments overrun, particularly if the doctor has to give a family a difficult diagnosis or explain a complicated treatment. This can have a ‘knock on’ effect on following appointments. The clinic staff will always try to keep you informed about any delays.

Privacy and your child’s wishes

When the clinic nurse calls you and your child to see the doctor, there may be more than one person in the room. As GOSH is a teaching hospital, some of these people may be doctors nurses and other professionals in training. Your doctor should introduce them to you and explain why they are there. If you or your child would prefer not to have these other people there during the consultation, it would be helpful if you let us know before the appointment. Asking to be seen alone will not affect your child’s care in any way.

Question time

The doctor will usually start by asking you and your child lots of questions about his or her illness or condition. This information helps the doctor make a diagnosis and plan any treatment. If the doctor wants to examine your child, he or she will ask your child to lie on a bed that has curtains around it. You will, of course, be able to stay during any examinations.

When the doctor has finished, you will have the chance to ask him or her any questions. If there is something the doctor explains which you do not understand, please ask him or her to explain it again.

Booking your next appointment

At the end of the consultation, the doctor will tell you if he or she wants to see your child again and if so, approximately when. He or she will also give you a form with this information on it to take to the reception desk. The receptionist will then arrange a suitable date and time for your child’s next appointment before you leave the hospital. If you have any questions about making an appointment, please call the Appointments Centre on 020 7829 8880.

Prescriptions for medicines

If the doctor gives you a prescription for medicines, you will need to get them from the hospital pharmacy at GOSH. Please leave your prescription at the Pharmacy before you go for any tests or other appointments.

Please tell us if your child has any allergies to food, medicines, preservatives or colourings. Also, if your child prefers to take medicine in a certain format, for instance as liquid or tablets, please discuss this with us when you hand in the prescription.