Being a patient at Noble's Hospital

Your care is provided by a clinical team led by the Consultant in charge of your treatment. This team also includes your named nurse(s), junior doctors, and other support staff.

The Ward Manager is responsible for the staff delivering your nursing care and manages the ward environment, liaising closely with your Consultant-led clinical team.

There are many other staff, for example, domestic, catering and portering staff to name but a few, who are vital members of the hospital team. All are dedicated to your care whilst you are in hospital. 

We are all dedicated to working cohesively together for your benefit whilst you are in our hospital.

Your consent to treatment

Your doctor and members of your care team will be pleased to share with you information relating to your illness and will be pleased to answer your questions. Please do not hesitate to ask your doctor or named nurse if you want to know anything about your illness whilst you are in our care at Noble's. Before you have a procedure or an operation carried out, the doctor is required to give you a full explanation and to outline the risks. He/she will check that you understand what is being said. If you don't understand, please ask the doctor to explain again. He/she will then ask you to sign a consent form, indicating your agreement to proceed. If you are a child or a young person over 16 years of age and can demonstrate a full understanding of what is being said, you may sign your own consent form. Information leaflets about consent are available for you to read on your ward. You are welcome to take any of the following:

• Noble's Hospital - Consent - A guide for adults
• Noble's Hospital - Consent - A guide for children and young people
• Noble's Hospital - Consent - A guide for parents
• Noble's Hospital - Consent - A guide for relatives and their carers

If you need assistance please ask your named nurse.

What you can expect from us

We are committed to providing high quality health services that meet your needs. We want you to know what you can expect from us:

• a prompt, courteous and considerate service
• to be addressed as you wish
• to receive adequate notice of your appointment or admission
• to know the names of those people who are caring for you
• to be kept informed of delays arising, for example, in respect of clinics, home visits or hospital treatments
• to be informed about any treatment proposed and of the risks involved or of alternative treatments available before you decide whether you will agree (consent) to treatment
• to be asked whether or not you are willing to take part in medical research or student training, and to be assured that your decision will not affect the care you receive
• to be informed in timely fashion of your time of discharge or transfer so that arrangements can be made for your return home and, if necessary, for your continuing care
• to be treated in clean and comfortable surroundings
• for your opinions about the care you receive to be listened to and respected
• for any complaint you make to receive respectful and prompt attention
• to have access to your health records

Please follow the advice given to you by health professionals:

• Please comply with our systems and procedures
• Please be considerate to other people using the service and to the staff who provide it
• Please attend your appointments promptly - if you have difficulty attending or need to cancel, please write or telephone so that your appointment can be offered to another patient
• Please let us know your views on the services we provide for you.

To help us provide the best and most effective service, try to follow a healthy lifestyle, for example:

• try to be well informed about your health or condition; ask questions so that you can make informed decisions
• know your medical history and, if you have any allergies or any known adverse reactions to medicines, be prepared to tell the staff who need to know about any treatment you are receiving
• follow any treatment prescribed or health advice offered. If you are unwilling or unable to do this, please inform your doctor or nurse
• information leaflets on healthy lifestyles are available on all wards and in outpatients departments. Please help yourself to this free source of information and advice.

A small bedside locker is provided for your personal belongings, however, please note that no wardrobe space is provided. You should not keep any valuables or money with you other than a small amount for newspapers or items from the hospital shop or trolley.

The hospital accepts no responsibility or liability for your money or valuables brought into hospital premises unless they are handed in for safe keeping in return for a signed receipt. The yellow disclaimer notice on your locker is a reminder of this. Money or valuables may be safely deposited with us and will be released on presentation of the receipt.

Whilst you are in hospital your doctor will review any medicines which you have been taking. Please try to follow this guide:

• Bring into hospital with you any medicines, creams and herbal remedies which you have been taking at home and please bring them in the original containers. Also please bring any special cards, such as steroid, anticoagulant or diabetic cards, which you would normally carry on your person. Please inform the nurse or the doctor that you have your medicines/cards with you.
• When the ward staff have seen and noted your medicines, please arrange, if possible, for your visitors to take them home.
• Make sure that you understand which medicines you are to take when you go home, as the brand name and/or the appearance may differ from the medication previously used by you. If you have any queries, please raise them with the pharmacist. When you return home, return any medicines which you no longer need to your local Community Pharmacy for safe disposal

The hospital will notify your GP of any changes to your prescription. Please ask your GP to prescribe further supplies of your medication as necessary.

In some of our wards we nurse only women or only men. On those wards which are mixed, men and women are nursed in separate areas and separate bathroom/toilet facilities are provided. We hope you will find our arrangements acceptable. If not, please raise this with your named nurse.

An amenity bed allows a patient to pay for the use of a single room on a general ward (not private patients ward).

Occasionally a small number of amenity beds are available on wards 3,4,5 and 6.

These cannot be guaranteed, although where possible arrangements will be made to supply this accommodation. The current price list and bed availability can be obtained from:

When you are admitted to the ward you will be shown where the bathrooms and toilets are. If you need help to use them, please tell your named nurse. These facilities should be clean and in good working order. If not, please tell us.

We cater for a wide range of tastes and offer a choice of meals. If you have particular needs or would like to speak to the Catering Manager, please tell your named nurse.

Meals are served at the following times:

The hospital canteen is not available to visitors, however facilities are provided in the main reception (atrium), including the main entrance shop which sells sweets, newspapers, flowers, greeting cards and some toiletries.

Opening times

8am until 8:30pm, 7 days a week.

You can borrow books from a Red Cross library trolley which visits the wards on a weekly basis.

Guide dogs are welcome in hospitals but may not be allowed on certain wards, for example the Intensive Care and Coronary Care Units. This is in the interests of the patients. Please check with the nurse in charge first.

Staff will be pleased to post your letters on request. Post is collected daily. Letters for patients are delivered daily and will be brought to you as soon as possible.

We encourage no smoking whilst you are in Hospital. Patients who wish to smoke should use only the facilities provided. Please do not smoke in other areas.

Fire alarms are tested weekly (usually Tuesday mornings), and make a loud noise. Please do not be unduly alarmed. In the event of a real fire, please remain calm until directed by the ward staff who are trained in what to do.

Unless you tell us of any special requirements, your next of kin, family or friends will be kept up to date with the progress of your treatment.

Podiatry is provided to patients in hospital and the community. Inpatients are only seen on the ward if their need is considered urgent, otherwise their name is put on the waiting list for an appointment when available.

You may be dealing with or receiving care from other agencies. We may need to share information with them about you. We ensure that we act only in professional confidence. We pass on information about you only if it is in your own or the public interest. If you have particular concerns in this area, you may speak to the person in charge of your care or contact a senior manager, for example, the Clinical General Manager responsible for the service you are receiving, or the Health Records Manager who manages the storage, retrieval and use of patient information. Please ask.

Individual members of staff are not permitted to accept monetary gifts. If you do wish to make a donation please send it to:

With your donation we would appreciate the following information:

The fund you wish to donate, either

1. Education
2. Equipment
3. Patient's Comfort

Your name and address.

If donated in memoriam, the name of the person it is in memory of.

Cheques should be made payable to: Noble's Hospital (Name of Fund) Trust, for example, Noble's Hospital Education Trust.

Please ensure you obtain an official charitable fund receipt from the hospital.