Other wards

Transplant High Dependency Unit (Ward F5)

 

Box: 13
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Hills Road,
Cambridge,
CB2 0QQ

Enquiries: 01223 216 811

 

About the unit:

 

The High Dependency Unit cares for patients who are undergoing liver, kidney, pancreas and small bowel transplantation. We also care for patients who may have related conditions.

The unit has 6 beds, with 2 of them being side rooms. This means that patients of both sexes may be nursed together. We do make every effort to ensure your privacy and dignity is maintained at all times. Please speak to a member of staff if you have any concerns or worries about this.

 

 

Finding Transplant HDU

 

From the main hospital entrance: Turn right when you come in the main entrance. Turn left and go past the hairdressers to the lifts. Go to level five and turn left. Follow the corridor and you will come to F5 on the left at the end.

 

If you are visiting a patient who is likely to be hospitalised for two weeks or more, you can get a discounted parking ticket from the main reception. This allows you to exit from the car parks for 14 consecutive days from the day you validate the ticket.

 

> Finding us - Parking ticket discounts

 

 

Visiting hours

 

Visiting is between 9am and 9pm. You may be asked to leave for short periods to enable patients to rest or for staff to carry out patient care.

Visitor numbers are restricted to 2 per bed.

Visitors are kindly requested not to sit on the patient's bed.

We do not allow children under the age of 10 to visit the unit. Please speak to the nurse in charge if this is an issue.

Cut flowers and plants in water are not allowed on the Transplant Unit this is to help prevent infection. Plants and dried flower arrangements are allowed. If in doubt, please ask ward staff.

To help us prevent the spread of any infections, please ask visitors to use the hand rub at the entrance to the ward on arrival and on leaving.

 

Overnight accommodation:

 

We have no facilities for family or friends to stay overnight. However, there are a number of other options available if you wish to remain close to the hospital whilst your relative is with us.

• The University Accommodation Service provides a list of bed and breakfast venues in the Cambridge area. This accommodation is available for anyone to use, not just students.

  > Bed & Breakfast Listings
  
  

• There are some rooms available to rent on site
  > Accommodation for relatives of patients

 

Food and drink

 

Please check with nursing staff before you consume any food or drink that has been brought in for you or purchased in the hospital. If you are not able to eat and drink due to your condition, we will offer ice cubes or mouthwashes to help you feel more comfortable.

• Breakfast is served from: 0800 hours
  
  
• Lunch is served from: 1200 hours
  
  
• Dinner is served from: 1700 hours
  
  
• If you miss a meal please ask a member of staff. We may be able to order from the “missed meals” service (within hours)
  
  
• You may be able to store refrigerated items, but this is not always possible
  
  
• We cannot reheat any food in the ward area
  
  
• We are able to reheat from home (you will be asked to sign a form stating that you understand any risks that this may involve.
  
  
• If you are on a special diet or therapeutic diet, the ward staff will contact our hospital dietician to arrange this for you. The dietician will also be available Monday–Friday to provide specialist information regarding your diet

 

Unit facilities

Due to the monitoring equipment in the unit, we are unable to have Hospedia (the bedside television service). We do have a wall mounted television, a radio/CD player in the unit and portable DVD players. Please ask the nurse looking after you if you would like to use these.

We have a cordless phone if you would like to speak to your family and friends. This is also for clinical use and we do ask that calls on this line are kept brief.

 

Doctors rounds

 

You will be looked after by a team of doctors led by a consultant. This may not be the consultant that carried out your original surgery.

On certain days the whole team will see you during what's known as the 'consultant ward round' and you will have daily visits from at least one member of the team.

Please note you may not see your consultant everyday. If you have a specific concern that you wish to discuss, please speak to the nurse looking after you.

The ward rounds are also an opportunity for you to tell them how you're feeling and ask any questions you may have.

 

Infection control on the HDU:

 

To help us prevent the spread of any infections, please ask visitors to use the hand rub at the entrance to the ward on arrival and on leaving.
You will be routinely screened for hospital acquired infections on admission to the unit and then weekly throughout your stay. Separate screenings may be required if you develop a temperature or at the specific request of the medical team. Please do not be concerned about this, these procedures are to help us with the early identification of infections and enable us to begin treatment quickly.

> Infection control

 

 

Monitoring in the unit

 

You will be attached to a monitor and some drips whilst in the unit. A member of staff can discuss the purpose of them with you. These pieces of equipment may alarm from time to time. Please do not worry as there are various reasons as to why this may happen and a member of staff will deal with the cause appropriately.

 

 

Transition to ward:

 

We appreciate that this is a big step for patients. You may have already been moved from the Intensive Care Unit to the HDU. The biggest changes from the HDU to the ward are the number of nurses allocated to each patient and the bigger environment (so in the HDU you may see a nurse all the time but on the ward a nurse may not be immediately visible). It is a positive step and a decision that is made between the doctors and the nurses involved in your care when they are happy you no longer require the level of observation that is carried out in the HDU.

Some faces from the ward will be familiar to you as the nurses share the same storage facilities and you will be same by the same medical staff.

 

 

 

 

 

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