Inpatients

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Whatever brings you to Royal Cornwall Hospitals, and however long your stay, we want you to feel as comfortable as possible. This section has been specially written to answer your questions and help settle you in to the ward. It will tell you everything you need to know about the hospitals, our care promise to you, your stay, our services, and going home.

You might be given other information on your ward that’s more to do with your particular condition or treatment. If you have any other questions or need anything to make your stay more comfortable, please feel free to ask anyone, healthcare assistants, therapists, nurses or doctors.

Updating your personal information

Before coming to hospital as a patient, please update the information we hold about you via this link – https://forms.office.com/r/YJD9z62gLX, or using the QR code below.  We will ensure your information is processed in line with UK Data Protection laws.

Our care promise

The way you are looked after in hospital is our key priority. This is so important to us that we have a whole section dedicated to our promises and how you can expect to be treated.

We have a set of values that act as our guiding principles to make sure we deliver the best possible care for every single patient. We strive to deliver inclusive health services for all, in a dignified and respectful way. We are also committed to providing every patient with same­ sex sleeping bays, bathrooms and toilet facilities.

These principles and policies put our patients at the heart of everything we do and help us provide you with high quality, safe and effective care and treatment.

• Visit the Your Care section to read more.

The following sections detail what happens at every stage of your stay with us.

Personal belongings while you’re in hospital

When you’re admitted, it’s a good idea to ask a friend or relative to take home anything you won’t need while you’re here, and, because wards can be very busy, do take special care of things like glasses, hearing­ aids and dentures.

You’ll also need to make your own arrangements for clothes and laundry, and bear in mind we can only be responsible for property which is handed in for safe keeping.

Patients’ Personal Property – Disclaimer Notice

Please note that the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust and our staff cannot be held responsible or liable for patients’ monies, valuables or property that is not deposited for safe keeping.

We recognise that patients need essential personal items, such as spectacles and hearing aids and our staff will try to ensure the safety of these items. However, we recommend that:

• where possible, valuable items are not brought into hospital or are taken home by a friend or relative
• any valuable items not sent home are given to staff to be deposited for safe keeping utilising the cash and valuable bags available from the General Office
• any valuable or expensive items brought into hospital are covered by the patients’ own household insurance for loss, theft and damage.

Any items patients choose to keep with them whilst in hospital are their sole responsibility.  RCHT will not accept liability for lost or damaged property of any kind unless it has been handed over to staff for safe keeping and a receipt provided.

Please direct any queries to the nurse or midwife in charge.

You can also find directions, maps and information about parking and facilities at each of our hospitals on these pages:

• Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro
• St Michael’s Hospital in Hayle
• West Cornwall Hospital in Penzance