Bear Ward,
Level 6, Morgan Stanley Clinical Building,
Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street
London
WC1N 3JH
Map
Bear Ward telephone number: 020 7829 8829
For urgent admissions outside of office hours, please call the switchboard on 020 7405 9200 and ask for the doctor on call for Bear Ward.
About the Ward
Find out more about Bear Ward by watching our short video below.
If the video is not showing, please watch it on YouTube.
Bear Ward cares for children with cardiac (heart) conditions. Some children stay here after surgery and others come for assessment and non-surgical management. There are 24 beds, including eight high dependency beds for children who need closer monitoring.
You can learn more about our clinical specialties by visiting:
Staff on the ward
Bear Ward is primarily run by our highly qualified nursing team, but also includes consultants, clinical nurse specialists, physiotherapists, healthcare assistants, play specialists, psychologists, dieticians and housekeeping staff.
The following members of staff will be available to help you during your stay on the ward:
- Suzanne Cullen, Head of Nursing
- Carolyn Akyil, Ward Sister
- Abdul Patel, Ward Administrator
Conditions we treat
The special areas of expertise include the diagnosis and treatment of:
- cardiovascular disease
- tracheal disorders
- pulmonary hypertension
- cardiothoracic surgery
- post heart/lung transplant
Ward information
The ward is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Visitors are welcome from 8am until 8pm.
Each single room in Bear Ward contains a sofa bed so one parent can stay with their child.
Parents and guardians are welcome to visit at any time, although we ask that only the resident parent stays after 10pm so that the other children on the ward can sleep.
Bed allocation
We do our utmost to protect the privacy and dignity of your child at all times during their stay at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).
Your child will be allocated a bed space according to their physical, psychological and social needs, taking into consideration the needs of other children and young people on the ward at that time.
Please tell us if your child has a preference for being with other children of their own age and/or gender.
We will try to meet this request where possible. But please remember that sometimes requests cannot be met.
Your child's safety will be our utmost priority at all times.
Facilities for parents
You are a valued member of your child’s healthcare team and we encourage you to take part in their care as much as possible while in hospital.
If you are staying with your child on Bear Ward, there may be some disturbance during the night as the nurses work. We apologise in advance for this.
Parent accommodation
We understand that for parents who have travelled a long distance, both parents would like to stay at the hospital or nearby.
But the hospital can only guarantee accommodation for both parents when your child is either in Flamingo Ward or in a high dependency bed on Bear Ward.
Once your child leaves Flamingo Ward or a high dependency bed, the hospital can only guarantee accommodation for one person.
Some parents can use the Paul O’Gorman Patient Hotel, also known as Weston House, when they need to stay overnight:
- You must live at least 25 miles away from the hospital.
- The child must be able to stay with the parent at the hotel.
For more information read our family accommodation factsheet.
Food on the ward
Bear Ward has a parents’ sitting room and facilities to make drinks and snacks.
As part of the hospital infection control and hygiene policy you can not eat at your child’s bedside. But you are welcome to eat or drink in the parents’ sitting room.
There is a telephone by each bed. You can make outgoing calls with a phone card from the hospital shop.
You can also give the phone number to family and friends so that they can call you. Please ask them not to call late in the evening as this may disturb other children on the ward.
The use of mobile phones is restricted to areas away from the high dependency beds and they must be kept on silent at all times.
Regulations on the ward
The following are not allowed on Bear Ward:
- Latex balloons – due to potential allergic reactions.
If your child has either had recent contact with chickenpox or measles, or has chickenpox, measles, shingles, diarrhoea and vomiting, then please contact a member of the nursing team before arriving.
Siblings and young family members are welcome on the ward as long as they are supervised at all times by an adult.
Last reviewed by Great Ormond Street Hospital: 24 April 2012
