Neptune Ward (CW)
Introduction
Neptune Ward is a 16-bed medical ward at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. We take admissions from A&E, outpatients and transfers from other hospitals.
We are also a shared care ward for children receiving oncology treatment. We care for children and from birth to 16 years of age. We have a large team of nurses, doctors and specialists who are committed to providing a high standard of care to your child, working in partnership with families and carers.
Nursing and support workers
Neptune Ward has a team of nursing staff and health care assistants who will look after your child, led by the ward sister.
Day shifts are 8am–8.30pm and night shifts are 8pm–8.30am. Other members of our team also include play specialists, domestics and administrative staff.
Medical
Your child’s care will be led by a consultant who has a team of doctors working with them. You will be seen by a member of the medical team on admission and by a consultant within 24 hours of your child’s admission to the ward.
A consultant-led medical ward round is carried out daily from 9am–12pm. Other specialist teams may visit at different times.
Visiting times
Visiting times are 8am–8pm, parents can visit outside these times.
We do have limited space and in order to be respectful of other patients we can only have two visitors per bedside at one time. If you are allocated to a side room this will be for a medical reason and visiting may need to be restricted. Please ask your child’s nurse if you are unsure.
Staying overnight
We recognise the importance of family-centred care and strive to achieve a safe and comforting environment for the child. We therefore welcome one parent or guardian to stay alongside your child overnight and when possible we will provide a camp bed. We do ask that these are folded away in the morning by 9:30am in order to keep a clean, tidy and safe bed space.
Overnight we would like the children to have as good a night’s sleep as possible to aid their recovery. We will therefore endeavour to keep noise to a minimum, however sometimes monitoring and machinery is necessary. Bedside lamps or dimmed overhead lights will need to remain on in order to ensure your child can be assessed at all times to maintain their safety.
Parents room
This is for parents only. Please use this room as a children-free zone away from the patient bedside to allow yourselves a bit of space.
Please feel free to bring in your own food items or home cooking and make the most of the facilities. We ask that the area remains as clean and tidy as when you found it, ready for the next parent. Please label all food in the fridge with your child’s name and the date in order to maintain a safe food environment—food will discard if unlabelled.
Mealtimes
Breakfast is served from a trolley outside the kitchen. You can help yourself to toast and cereal. Your nurse will be able to help you if needed.
Lunch and supper is chosen from a menu that will be brought round to you each morning, for you to make your own selection.
- Breakfast: 7:30–9am
- Lunch: 12 noon–1pm
- Dinner: 5–6pm
Water jugs are filled and refreshed twice a day. There is also a water fountain and squash available on the ward.
Playroom
We have a playroom which is open from 9am. It is a safe area for children to explore and play. We have play specialists and play assistants who can provide distraction techniques during procedures, play interaction and support, and one-to-one play with your child. All children and siblings must be supervised at all times when in the play room.
School
If well enough, we expect all young children and adolescents to attend the hospital school. It is located on the 1st Floor of the hospital. If your child cannot attend the school, teachers can bring work to your bedside.
If your child is in hospital for a while, the school will liaise with his/her own school for work to be brought in.
Please note that we inform school nurses of all admissions to hospital.
School times are (Monday to Friday): 10am–12pm and 1:30–3:30pm.
Televisions
The television service is available free of charge from 7am–7pm. After this time you are able to purchase a TV card from the main reception for further viewing.
We encourage headphones to be worn whenever possible in order to be respectful of noise to those around you.
Going home medicines
If your child requires any medication to have at home your doctor will prescribe it and the pharmacy team will arrange for it to arrive on Neptune Ward.
At times this process can take a few hours to safely arrange, therefore please be patient. Your nurse will keep you up-to-date with any progress.
Car parking
We provide reduced car parking rates for parents of children who are inpatients (£10 for 24 hours). Please ask your nurse for a voucher which you can hand in at main reception with your car park ticket when you leave.
Feedback
We welcome all feedback and encourage you to complete the children’s feedback survey available at the ward desk. Please ask your nurse or the receptionist for the form