Arrangements for your stay with us

On arrival, please proceed to the appropriate ward/department where you will be met by nursing staff. There might be times when you may be admitted to a different ward to the one you were expecting or moved from one ward to another. This will not affect your treatment.

When you arrive at the ward, you may be asked to wait in a day room whilst a bed is allocated to you.

Cash and valuables

Please leave all cash and valuables at home. If you need to bring valuables into Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital or the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, these can be sent to General Office for safekeeping. General Office is open between 8.30am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday. Therefore, if you are discharged outside these times you will not be able collect your property until the General Office is open. We do not accept responsibility for items not handed in for safekeeping.

Our staff can provide you a bright blue Patient Property Box to safely story your personal items, such as dentures, hearing aids or visual aids like spectacles (glasses). Please note these boxes are not to be used for personal valuables such as jewellery, money, phones etc.

At Liverpool Women's University Hospital, valuables can be kept in patient lockers which are fitted with a secure lock.

If you are coming to our hospitals, please bring all of your medicines in their original containers.

Why should I bring my medicines?

Bringing your medicines helps us to:

  • Confirm exactly what medicines you take at home
  • Make sure you get the correct medicines without delays or missed doses
  • Check that your medicines are safe, in date and suitable to use
  • Help prevent excess medicines building up at home
  • Reduce unnecessary medicine waste.

If you move to another ward during your stay, your medicines will move with you.

What will happen to my medicines?

  • Please give all medicines you have brought from home to your nurse or midwife
  • Your medicines will be used to help plan your care and treatment
  • Medicines must not be left unattended for the safety of patients, visitors and colleagues
  • They will be stored securely in a locked bedside locker, ward fridge or controlled drugs cupboard 
  • Unless you request otherwise, your medicines may be used during your hospital stay
  • Your usual medicines will need to be prescribed by your hospital team before they can administer on the ward.

Please do not take medicines brought from home or brought in by relatives, friends or carers, unless advised by hospital staff. If staff are unaware that you have taken your own medication, you could accidentally receive a duplicate dose.

Why must medicines be stored safely?

Safe storage helps prevent medication errors and protects your wellbeing.

What happens when I go home?

  • All medicines supplied on discharge will be prescribed, labelled and explained to you
  • Your medical team will discuss any changes to your medicines during your stay
  • You will receive an appropriate supply of medicines to take home
  • Medicines that have been stopped, changed or are no longer suitable for use may need to be disposed of in line with hospital policy
  • If you would like to keep medicines that have been discontinued, they will be clearly marked as no longer for use and returned to you separately.

If you need advice

If you have any questions or concerns about your medicines, please speak to your nurse, midwife or a member of the Pharmacy team. They will be happy to help and support you to use your medicines safely when you leave hospital.

We have produced some information to help you understand the discharge process.

Discover the uniforms worn across our hospital sites and what roles they correspond with on our identifying our staff page.

We know how important is for patients to keep in contact with their family and close friends while they are in hospital. For support, please go to our visiting someone page.

Remember, please speak to the ward before visiting a loved one.

As an organisation, we understand that many of our patients feel more comfortable when sharing hospital rooms with other patients of the same sex.

The ward or room where your bed is will only have patients of the same sex as you. As well as this, the toilet near to your bed will be a single-sex toilet as per our maintaining privacy and dignity policy.

If you are an inpatient at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, you will receive your own private room.

At Liverpool Women's University Hospital, there are occasions we have male patients in a day case capacity, but who never stay overnight.

The only exemption to our single-sex policy is in our Emergency Departments.

Liverpool University Hospitals

You will be served three meals a day on wards at Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital and Royal Liverpool University Hospital around the following times:

  • 7.30am-9am
  • 12noon-1pm
  • 5pm-6pm.

You'll be asked to order your meals from one of the inpatient menus. After breakfast you will be asked to choose your lunch and then during the afternoon you will select your evening meal. The meals will be served by a service host/hostess and ward staff. If you have any special dietary needs, please tell the ward staff on your admission.

Our menus include a range of food options and are available to read and download. Versions with photographs can also be made available. If you require support with eating, please let staff know to make the necessary arrangements.

Throughout the day you can expect to be offered a choice of hot and cold drinks, along with a selection of snacks such as biscuits, cakes, cheese and crackers.

There are also shops selling food and drink and other catering facilities at each of the hospital sites.

Liverpool Women's University Hospital

Ward meal times at Liverpool Women's University Hospital are as follows:

  • 7.30am-8am
  • 11.45am
  • 5pm.

Tea and coffee rounds happen after every meal. If you would like a specific type of tea or coffee, please bring this in with you, options are limited.

If you have food allergies or intolerances, please alert the Pre-op team, as dairy replacements are not kept on the ward and will need to be ordered ahead of time.

There are also shops selling food and drink and other catering facilities on-site.

Infection prevention and the control of infection always remains a top priority within our Trust. Cleansing hands, keeping surfaces as clear as possible so that they can be cleaned and asking unwell friends and family not to visit are all ways of helping us to prevent infection throughout our hospitals. For more information, please visit our IPC pages.

As you would expect, the consumption of alcohol at our hospitals by patients, colleagues and visitors is strictly forbidden. Read more here.

Help is available for smokers wishing to quit. Please ask your nurse or midwife for information about stopping smoking to help you quit before your admission.

We have a diverse team of volunteers on all our sites who are here to help our patients in many different ways. Volunteers wear light blue polo shirts at Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital and Royal Liverpool University Hospital, whereas at Liverpool Women's University Hospital they wear a pink t-shirt and/or purple fleece. They will be point you in the right direction if you become lost. You can also speak to ward staff who can arrange for a volunteer to act as a companion or support you during mealtimes. You can find out more about our Volunteers service here.

If you are able, you will be assisted by nursing staff or therapists visiting the wards in getting out of bed and walking around areas where it is safe to do so. This is not only to help increase your mobility but also to avoid things like pressure sores which can occur when a patient has been in bed for a long period of time. Your nurse will discuss this with you depending on your treatment plan and recovery timeline.

If you have a carer, please speak with colleagues about the support you need. Our staff can provide you with a Carer passport that provides support for carers. Discover more information on how we support carers across our hospitals.

If English is not your first language, you may require an interpreter.

Please visit our interpreter services page for more information.

Whatever cultural, religious or spiritual beliefs you may have, you have the right to have these beliefs respected, as long as this is possible and does not impose excessively on the rights of others. Please let the nursing staff know what you need and every effort will be made to arrange this for you.

For more information, please visit our spiritual and cultural support page.

Mail is delivered to all wards each morning. If your friends and relatives are sending post to you while you are in hospital, please ask that they use the full address of the hospital in which you are staying and clearly identify your name and your ward on the envelope.

There are also post boxes available across all three of our sites.

We want to ensure that you have the best possible experience during your stay. During your stay, our staff and volunteers may come and speak to you ask about your stay. We want to know what has gone well and anything that we can improve. Your comments will remain anonymous and will not impact on your care in any way.

Alternatively, you can give us your feedback using our online forms.