Welcome to Rainbow Ward v4
Welcome to Rainbow Ward
Patient Information
Child Health Services
- Author ID: CH Team
- Leaflet Ref: CH 065
- Version: 4
- Leaflet title: Welcome to Rainbow Ward
- Last review: December 2022
- Expiry Date: December 2024
Welcome to Rainbow Ward
On behalf of Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust may I take this opportunity to say sorry that you or your child has been admitted into hospital. However, we hope that your stay is of a high standard and fully meets your expectations.
This brochure has been developed with you in mind to help make your stay as easy as possible and a bit less stressful!
Rainbow Ward is a 34 bedded unit split into 3 areas: Red, Yellow and Blue, which comprises of both medical and surgical patients. We offer a wide range of services and look after a multitude of conditions and illnesses. We can also provide a certain amount of critical care in our 2 bedded High Dependency Unit (HDU) in the Red area of the ward.
If you have any further questions about the ward, the hospital or you/your child’s care, please feel free to ask any member of the team on Rainbow Ward who will be happy to help.
We hope you get well soon.
Who are we?
Many people are involved in caring for you while you are in hospital and the majority will wear a uniform and a name badge. Staff will introduce themselves but if you are in doubt about who they are, please ask.
 Head of Nursing Purple with white trim |  Matron Navy with red trim |  Ward Manager/Deputy Navy with white trim |
 Staff Nurse Royal blue with white trim |  Health Care Assistant Hospital blue with white trim |  Paediatric Advanced Nurse Practitioner Purple Scrub Top |
 Specialist Nurse Navy with purple trim |  Play Specialist Yellow polo shirt |  Physiotherapist White with navy trim |
 Housekeeper Lilac stripe with white trim |  Domestic Pink and white candy stripe scrub top |
Need a green polo t shirt adding for our Play Workers |
Ward Plan
Ward contact information
Ward telephone number: 01942 822280
Ward Reception: 01942 778762 / 778763
Visiting and ward access
If you are a parent or carer, we consider you to be part of your child’s health care team, rather than a visitor. You may stay with your child at all times; however, we do ask that only one parent/carer stays overnight due to health and safety and use of facilities.
For everyone else (including brothers and sisters), visiting hours are between 9:00 am and 8:00 pm. There are no breaks in visiting times. We try to accommodate visitors as much as possible; however, HDU patients are allowed a maximum of 2 visitors per bed. For the safety of the patients, access to and from the ward is via an intercom system located on the wall on each side of the entrance doors. Only ward staff can provide this access. Pressing the buzzer will identify that access is needed and you will be asked for your identification and which patient you are visiting. There may be times when we need to restrict visitors during increased infection periods. We will provide you with this information and place notices around the ward area during these restrictions.
If visitors are unwell themselves, it is advised that they do not come to visit the child. Please help us fight infection by washing your hands regularly and use the provided alcohol gel on your way in and out of the ward: these are located on either side of the doors.
Car Parking
If your child requires an overnight stay you may be entitled to obtain a parking exemption pass, please speak to a staff member.
For Day Case patients and ward attenders, if you park on the hospital site, parents and carers will need to pay for car parking. Up to 30 minutes (DROP OFF ONLY) is free.
Getting to know the ward
The nurse who admits your child to the ward will show you around the ward. This will help you familiarise yourself around the ward and be able to know where everything is. If this doesn’t happen please ask and a member of staff will assist.
Facilities are available for parents in the parent’s room; food can be brought in from home and placed in the fridge in this room but please make sure you label your food and drink with your name and date. Any out of date food left after 24 hours, or food that is not correctly labelled will be disposed of. Hot drinks facilities are also available in the parent’s room. Hot drinks are NOT allowed on the ward.
A TV and magazines are provided for your comfort. These facilities are provided free of charge and available 24 hours a day. The parent’s room is a child-free room.
We sometimes need to move patients around the ward based on their medical needs. We try and limit this as much as possible, but we hope you understand why your child may be moved. There are only a limited number of single rooms on the ward which children with infections and small babies take priority for based on medical needs. Again, only one parent can stay overnight in one of the side rooms.
Chair beds/recliners are available for parents staying overnight, all chair beds must be folded away by 7:30 am for safety reasons and linen will be given out at night around 8:30 pm. Please make sure that your child can be easily accessed throughout the night by staff, by ensuring parent beds/chairs and belongings are safely away.
Admission process
The nurse who will be looking after your child on initial admission to the ward will go through a set of questions in order to complete their care plan. If you or your child have any medicines, inhalers, tablets, etc. please let your nurse know at this point to enable us to keep them safe away from other children on the ward. These will be locked up in the cupboard at the bedside.
Your nurse will let you know what that plan of care is and what may happen in the next few hours or so. And again, if you have any questions or concerns please ask.
Rainbow Ward works closely with Wigan Safeguarding and Wigan Domestic Violence teams. During your stay, you or your child may be asked some questions regarding these issues. Please do not feel offended and be reassured that this is our policy in helping to manage and protect the health and well-being of children and young adults.
Alternatively, if you have any concerns, or are involved in any domestic violence issues and seek help, please speak confidentially to a member of staff or take a note of the numbers below.
- Freephone 24 hour National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247
- Greater Manchester Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0161 636 7525
Showers/Toilets
We ask that parents and visitors use the parents shower and toilet located next to the parent’s room and there is also a visitor’s toilet on the corridor on the way out. The majority of patient toilets are located around the ward and in the bays.
HDU patients may need to use the nearest bay toilet in the red area. We can provide clean towels if needed. Please do not use the children’s bathrooms/toilets.
Nappies and bottles can be provided as an emergency resource, but we do expect that you bring in your own supplies. A sterilisation tank is provided, and bottles are cleaned and sterilised by staff, bottles can be prepared as and when needed.
Bedside
Bedside TVs are available and free between the hours of 7:00 am and 7:00 pm; after these times a card can be purchased from opposite the reception to purchase TV bundles. Coded lockers are provided for valuables; however, we do encourage that these are left at home. The top drawer is reserved for medications and medical equipment. Please ask a member of staff if you need assistance with the lockers and codes. It is usually okay for you to use your mobile phone on the ward, but it may interfere with equipment in some cases. Please ensure that mobile phone chargers are not left in the plug socket with no phone attached.
There are DVDs, board games, and video game consoles available throughout your child’s stay. Please ask a member of the play team (yellow t-shirts) who will happily assist. There is also a play area in the middle of the ward for patients and visitors to play in. Please ensure there is adult supervision at all times. Playroom opening times are 8am to 7pm.
Mealtimes
Patients on the ward will receive all their meals. Breakfast, which includes cereals, fruit and toast, is provided from a trolley at around 8am from a staff member. A lunch menu will be offered mid-morning enabling patients to choose from a selection of sandwiches and jacket potatoes. A choice of hot meal, which will include a variety of healthy options, will be provided at dinner by the catering team: a menu for the hot meals will also be circulated at some point during the day. Snacks and fruit are available throughout the day. Please ask a member of staff. Parents will be provided with some toast in the morning. There is a restaurant and café/shop with Costa Coffee available if required on Level 2. Out of hour’s times, there is a Tesco, 10-15 minute walk along Wigan Lane current opening times are 6am to midnight. Please turn right once out of the hospital grounds.
When will you see a doctor?
Your consultant will see your child every day usually between 9:30 am and 12:30 pm; however, this can change due to ward demands. Junior and senior doctors are available 24 hours a day if there are any concerns or questions you may have. If you are not available during these times with your child then please make a member of staff aware.
Discharge planning: getting ready to go home
We will aim to always try and keep you informed of any plans we have to send your child home, whether this be discharge or home leave. Discuss your child’s discharge plans with the consultant so that you are well informed and prepared to make any necessary arrangements.
You should receive a discharge letter which will be given to you before you go home and posted to you. If you child needs a follow up appointment with a consultant you may be given this prior to going home or a letter with all the details will be sent. Please check with staff.
Staff will inform you if any medication is required for your child to take at home. If your child is given new medication, please make sure you fully understand how and when to give the medication and any side effects to look out for.
It may take some time for your medication to arrive from our pharmacy. If you don’t live far away and staff feel it safe then you may go home and come back to the ward later to collect the prescription from the ward. Please let us know if you have any problems which may delay your child’s discharge.
Tell us what you think
We are always happy to receive your comments and compliments. We have monkey survey leaflet system in place where your thoughts and ideas into how we can improve can be written down.
You said…We did
Some parents commented that it can be a long day without the provision of a meal, from this we now provide every parent who has stayed overnight with breakfast.