Location
Second floor, Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Directions: from main reception, walk towards the back of the building. Turn left after the helter skelter, then left again before you reach the glass corridor. Pass through the double doors and take the 'big' lift up to the second floor.
Forest ward is our intensive care unit and is also called the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, or PICU for short.
It's a 20 bed unit and provides intensive care for critically ill children from south east England and beyond.
Information for visitors
Parents and carers can visit their child at any time- Visiting hours for other visitors are 10am-8pm
- No more than two visitors at the bedside at once to reduce infection risk
- Maximum of four named visitors including parents/carers.
- Visiting children must be supervised by an adult
- Please switch your mobile phone to silent – If you need to use it, please do so in the parents’ room, filming is not permitted on the unit- please ask permission before taking photos.
- Always wash your hands when you enter or leave the ward to reduce the risk of infection. Removing your coat and outdoor clothing when you first arrive also helps prevent the spread of infection.
- If you have been in contact with someone who has chicken pox, speak to the nurse in charge before entering the ward. Some of the children are very sensitive to infections.
- Please call the unit about visiting if you have symptoms of cold or flu, or have diarrhoea or vomiting before coming in.
For more information about your child's stay on Forest Ward (PICU) please see our leaflet (PDF 850Kb).
Parents’ accommodation
We do our best to accommodate up to two parents/carers as comfortably as possible whilst your child is on Forest Ward. However there are a limited number of parent's rooms available which are allocated on a day by day basis and cannot be reserved in advance.
If we cannot accommodate you in one of these, there are other places near the hospital where you can stay – see the accommodation page for more information.
Parents’ room
We have a parent's room in which you can can relax. It has its own tea and coffee making facilities and fridge in which you can store your own food. Please label it with your child’s name and bed number. There is also a television and toys for visiting siblings.
Meal times
For children who are able to eat, we provide cereal and toast for breakfast, and a hot meal or light snack for lunch and dinner.
If your child is unable to eat during their stay, they are reviewed by the dietician and are fed a milk feed either by bottle or by a special feeding tube.
Meal vouchers are provided for breastfeeding mothers (or those expressing their milk) which you can use at any of the hospital's catering facilities.
Your nurse
At the start of each shift, you child will be allocated a nurse who will introduce themselves to you. This is generally the best person to ask if you need help, but please don’t hesitate to ask another member of staff for assistance.
We also have a family liaison nurse who will introduce themselves and are available to provide support and advice.
Your doctor
The doctors involved in your child's care do two ward rounds a day, usually in the morning and afternoon. This is a good time to ask questions.