Items you may need to bring with you:

• Any prescribed or over the counter medicines or tablets which you take regularly
• Comfortable day clothes, including underwear
• Appropriate nightwear, including dressing gown and slippers
• Flat, secure-fitting shoes
• Any walking aids you may use
• Any spectacles, hearing aid or contact lenses you may use
• Toothbrush and toothpaste or denture cleaner
• Soap and deodorant
• Sanitary products
• Bath towel and a flannel, ideally labelled with your name
• Telephone numbers for your relatives
• Mobile phone, charger and earphones
• Something to help pass the time, such as a book or magazines
• Money for items such as newspapers, TV, telephone and the voluntary services trolley.

Please do not bring:

• Large amounts of money
• Valuables, such as jewellery
• Alcohol, illicit drugs, cigarettes or e-cigarettes and chargers
• Any electrical items, such as hair straighteners. 

There is limited storage space in the bedside locker and on the wards. Please bring as few personal belongings with you as possible and leave valuables at home. We cannot be responsible for any losses.

We believe that providing same-sex accommodation is an effective way of maintaining privacy and providing treatment with dignity and respect.

We recognise that in some situations patients of the opposite sex may have to share facilities. Sharing with members of the opposite sex will only happen however by clinical exception, such as when patients needs critical or very specialised care.

Where mixing does occur in this situation, we will transfer you to a same sex environment as soon as your clinical condition allows.

We also acknowledge that in our Chemotherapy (Welcome Treatment Centre) and Renal Units, mixing of the sexes can be appropriate and even desirable. However, even in these areas the decision will be based on the needs of individual patients.

What to do if you have any concerns

If you are at all concerned about the environment into which you will be admitted or cared for, please speak to a member of staff at the earliest opportunity.  Your care will not be affected in any way.

You can also speak to a member of our Patient Experience Team by calling 01623 672222.

Occasionally it may be necessary to move you to a different ward during your inpatient stay. This would only occur if the healthcare team was sure that it would not affect your medical condition and continuing care.

Although you would be given as much notice as possible of an intended transfer, circumstances can sometimes result in transfers at short notice.

If you wish, ward staff would be able to notify your nominated next of kin at the earliest opportunity.

As an inpatient you will be served three meals a day which you may choose from an extensive restaurant style menu offering more than 24 hot meal options which caters to a range of dietary requirements, all freshly cooked to order.

Various snack items are offered throughout the day and are available additionally to order.

If you have any special requirements, or can't see anything on the menu that suits you, please tell the staff who will try to help.

Visitors are asked not to visit at meal times, unless you would like help with your meal.

Sometimes, because of an operation or as part of your treatment, you will not be able to eat or drink. Your nurse will explain this to you.

Visit our hospitals page for details of other facilities, shops and restaurants available on our sites.

There is free public WiFi access for patients and visitors.

If you bring your own electronic devices into the hospital, such as a mobile phone, tablet or laptop, please also bring earphones so you do not disturb other patients.

We are unable to accept any responsibility for loss or damage to your valuables or personal belongings, unless they are handed in for safe keeping on admission and a receipt obtained.

Smoking tobacco and cigarettes at all Sherwood Forest Hospital sites is not permitted. This applies to all patients, visitors and staff. Please do not smoke anywhere inside or outside of our hospital buildings.

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) can be made available to you free of charge to help you become smokefree.

The use of e-cigarettes is permitted on our sites when outside. 

Help and support to stop smoking

Our clinical team can support you to stop smoking during your stay with us.

For free help and support to stop smoking, visit the Smokefree website or call their free National Helpline on 0300 123 1044 to speak to a trained, expert adviser. All lines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm and Saturday and Sunday 11am to 4pm.

Visiting times are 11.30am to 7pm. This allows our staff to provide the necessary care for patients and ensure that all patients have appropriate rest time. Read more on visiting.

We appreciate that family members know each other better than we do.

If you have concerns about the condition or medical treatment a family member is receiving, speak with your clinical team as soon as possible.

If you still have concern you can initiate Martha's Rule, a nationally recognised initiative to have the patient's condition and care plan reviewed by the Clinical Care Outreach Team (CCOT) by calling 07385 115574.

You can also contact the Trust's Patient Experience Team who are on hand to help resolve issues you may be concerned about.

Hospital is the best place for you when you are very unwell, but it isn’t the best place to recover.

Once you, or your family member, is well enough to leave hospital, being at home makes recovery safer and faster as it’s good for your mental wellbeing, there’s less chance of catching an infection and you can get good quality rest.

Research also shows that if elderly patients stay in a hospital bed for long periods of time, they can lose mobility and muscle strength, which makes it harder to regain independence once they do go home.

We will never discharge anyone unless they have a safe place to go. This means that sometimes a short-term social care placement, such as a care home, in the local area may be more appropriate for recovery and this will be discussed with you as a patient, or as a family member if it is thought to be needed.

Adaptations may need to be made to your home, such as grab rails, before you can be discharged which may cause a slight delay.

We ask that family members or carers support patients with and following their discharge from hospital. Transport can be arranged if required

King's Mill Hospital now has its own Discharge Lounge for patients waiting to be transported to wherever they call home. The facility provides a comfortable and purpose-designed space as they wait for medication, transport or for their relatives to collect them. Volunteers are based in the lounge to provide patients with food and drink.

Please ensure you take all of your personal belongings with you.

You will be given a discharge letter, and any medications or equipment you require.

Ward staff can arrange to supply you with an inpatient medical certificate for statutory sick pay claims or for your employer.

If you need a follow-up appointment, we will make this before you leave or write to you.