Welcome to the Cardiac Ward and Coronary Care Unit at Cheltenham General Hospital
We are a 21 bedded ward, with 2 x 6 bedded bays (one male and one female), 1 double sideroom, 1 single sideroom and a Coronary Care Unit (CCU) with 6 mixed sex beds. During your stay on the ward, you may move from CCU to one of the ward bays, this is to enable safe and effective nursing care. However, on the very rare occasion when the hospital is full to capacity there is a chance that we make a clinical decision to move a patient into the corridor. We try to avoid this if we can and it will only happen when needed to facilitate care for patients. This is called the boarding policy.
What to bring in to the ward
Relatives are encouraged to bring in your own clothes, wash items and any other home comforts you might like while in hospital. We do stock basic wash items and can also provide you with a towel so please ask if you need anything.
Medications
If you have brought medications in from home, we will need to lock them in your bedside locker. Any medication not used will be returned to you when you are discharged.
Where is the Cardiac Ward?
You will find the Cardiac Ward on:
Level 0, St Luke’s Wing, College Road, Cheltenham General Hospital
Tel: 0300 422 4011
Tel: 0300 422 2957
Tel: 0300 422 2958
Ward routine
The day to day running of the ward includes regular observations and medication rounds. The times of these are as follows:
Observations
6:00 am, 10:00 am, 2:00 pm, 6:00 pm, 10:00 pm
Medications
8:00 am, 12:00 noon, 6:00 pm, 10:00 pm
Meal times
Breakfast 8:00 am
Lunch 12:00 noon
Supper 5:00 pm
Hot drinks are served regularly throughout the day.
Doctor’s round
You will be seen by a doctor daily, Monday to Friday, this may not be the consultant. At the weekend you may not see a doctor unless you have a clinical need.
Recognising staff
To help you recognise the role of each member of staff, the uniform colours are:
Navy blue – Sister
Bright blue – Staff Nurse
Green – Health Care Assistant
Pale blue – Student Nurse
Teal – Trainee Nursing Associate
Purple stripe – Domestic staff
Burgundy – Phlebotomist (person who takes blood samples)
Consultants
On the ward we have a named consultant each week, with a change over every Saturday. This means that if you are admitted on a Friday and stay until Monday you will see 2 different consultants.
Angiograms
Please be aware that most of the patients on the ward are waiting to have an angiogram. The nursing staff receive a list each evening (Monday to Friday) with the names of the patients who will be having an angiogram the following day. We will let you know if your name is on the list for the following day, as soon as we are aware.
However, we also run an emergency service for acutely ill people needing cardiac care. If we accept an emergency admission, the angiogram list will be stopped to prioritise the emergency patient’s care. This means that patients listed for an angiogram on that day may be cancelled. We understand that this is frustrating but hope that you will understand.
After your angiogram, you will have a trans-radial band (TR band) on your wrist, this is to prevent your wrist from bleeding. While you have the TR band on, we ask that you do not leave the ward as we need to monitor your wrist closely for bleeding while we deflate the balloon that holds the band in place.
Pacemakers
Patients may also be waiting for pacemakers to be inserted while on the cardiac ward. As with the angiograms, we receive notification, Monday to Friday, of the patients who are listed for pacing each day. We will let you know as soon you are listed for the following day.
If you are waiting for a pacemaker you will need to have ‘clearance therapy’. This consists of an anti-bacterial wash and cream which will be supplied by the nursing staff for you to use while on the ward.
Mobile cardiac monitors
During your stay you may be wearing a mobile cardiac monitor. If necessary, this will have been fitted when you were admitted to the ward.
There are some restrictions in place while you are wearing the monitor.
You cannot leave the ward to go outside as the telemetry signal will not reach that far, this unfortunately includes the courtyard garden. Please ask your nurse if you have any questions.
Visiting
The ward is open for visiting every day between 11:00 am and 8:00 pm - only 2 visitors per bed space.
Additional information
There is WiFi available in the ward – if you struggle to connect your device, please ask a member of staff for help.
We have a cordless phone on the ward which you can use if you are unable to get a signal on your mobile phone and need to contact a relative. Please ask a member of staff.
We also have a day room which has a small stock of books and a TV, please ask your nurse if you are able to go to the dayroom. There is also a courtyard attached to the day room for you to use (weather permitting).
There is a shop directly opposite the ward which is open Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. The shop is not open over the weekend.
Discharge
When you are fit for discharge, we will send you home with a 28 day supply of medications. You will be given a copy of your discharge summary. A copy of the summary will also be sent to your GP.
When you are told that you are ready to be discharged, please do not ask you relatives to come to the ward to collect you straight away. We will need to make sure that you have all of your medication and paperwork. We will get you home as soon as we possibly can.
If you have driven yourself to hospital and then have to stay, please let the staff know as soon as possible so that we can make the parking office aware of your vehicle. Unfortunately, the hospital parking is run separately to the hospital and there is no reduction in the cost of parking if your car in left in the car park while you are an inpatient.