Great Ormond Street Hospital - how do children end up there?

[HurdyGurdy19]

Just watching a bit of mindless daytime TV and one of those adverts has come on for "give £x a month so GOSH can continue to give health care to these children".

Which would imply that it's a private organisation/charity, and not an NHS hospital. So are they a private hospital? How do children end up under their care?

Do NHS refer to GOSH and then have to pay GOSH for the care they provide? Or does the GOSH charity pay for all the treatments for the children?

I've always been aware of GOSH, and the links to JM Barrie and Peter Pan, but thankfully have never had a child who needed to be referred there, so the funding aspect hasn't ever crossed my mind, until seeing this advert today.

www.gosh.nhs.uk/about-us/what-it-means-be-nhs-foundation-trust/frequently-asked-questions-faqs/

It's an NHS foundation trust.

It’s an NHS hospital that has a charity attached to pay for things that the NHS doesn’t cover. Children from all over the country can be referred to GOSH so the charity pays for their families to stay in London and I expect it pays for other things too.

They’re an NHS hospital… kids end up there like they do at any other hospital

Its a normal NHS hospital these days, but they fundraise for research and all the extras. Back before the NHS it was a charity though, famed for never turning a sick child away - which for 5 years (as an inpatient alone) included my grandmother

My DD was referred to a clinic there - it was for a very specialised branch of paediatric medicine that basically didn’t exist anywhere else. Her GP referred her in the way he would to another specialist.

DD was referred there by our local hospital.

The play specialists funded by the charity are amazing.

I also know other parents who had their travel and accommodation paid for by the charity.

I believe they pay for a lot of the parent meals that are provided on some occasions when you can’t leave or arrive late at night etc.

A lot of people don’t realise how much is paid for by charities in hospitals. My SIL is having cancer treatment and her clinical specialist nurse that she talks to about side effects and who she sees at most appointments is actually paid for by the charity attached to the hospital.

Most hospitals have an associated ‘hospital charity’ - I expect that GOSH are just bigger than most - and consequently provide more things, like parents accommodation and things for the kids to do.

We've been there. Transferred due to groundbreaking operation just started out.

While there we spent over £900, in travel and food (we were there several weeks). We can afford that, but some can't even though that isn't NHS care and cost. We were housed in the great Ormond street hotel. But we didn't have toys,books etc. that put up one parent, not two. No space for siblings.

Yeah when my son was in NICU, the physiotherapist, psychologist and family support worker were all funded by charity, as was every extra to support parents- food in the family room, clothes and blankets for babies, parking passes, even a bag and a book for big siblings to help explain to them what was happening. I imagine GOSH is similar but on a much bigger scale given the size of the hospital.

Thank you for your replies.

I didn't realise it was an NHS Foundation Hospital, and the advert made it sound like it was "just" a charity.

Every day's a school day, right 😊

Yes this

We’ve used it. We were on the ward with many from ME who pay (it was private for us) which I found amazing

It has a very good reputation

My nephew was transferred there at days old after having open heart surgery as a newborn to fix a very faulty heart. He was referred by their local hospital when they picked up on a scan about the heart defect. They were wonderful with my nephew and the whole family. I assumed he’d been referred there as they are a hub for all sorts of specialist peadiatric care. He will remain under their cardiology consultant and have annual checks u til he reaches 18. Ps my nephew is now a wonderfully robust 3 year old, who you would never imagine had had his heart literally taken apart and put back together again - the absolute wonder of modern medicine!

Was she a child when she was there? That’s a long time wow.

It's NHS but a specialist centre so children referred for the service they need. It has for example very specialist and large children's intensive care units, oncology, surgical etc etc.
Yes a private wing exists but that is mostly for foreigners especially middle eastern patients.

@Devonshiregal yes, she went in when she was 2 I believe (undiagnosed bilateral congential dislocated hips - before they screened newborns for it). She could only see her parents once a week, and I think she didn't see her sister for the full 5 years. For most of that time she was in bed, 2 years in a full body cast.
But they managed to do enough of a job for her to learn to walk, cycle etc and lived a very normal life until she was 30 when unfortunatly she became disabled when one hip disintegrated

Same as Alder Hey. NHS hospital with specialist clinics and a well established charity to supplement it.

Children end up there because they're critically ill and the specialist care they need isn't available elsewhere. As others have said, it is an NHS hospital, but you can't just turn up; your child will be referred for a specific need.

There is also private and international care offered at GOSH- see here www.gosh.ae/about-hospital
I only found out about this when I was trying to get my daughter to been seen by a consultant there and I was told that we couldn't use the private facilities as we are NHS registered. We ended up being seen through the NHS. Their private section attracts patients internationally and many from the Middle East and they have an office in Dubai. www.gosh.ae/about-hospital/our-gulf-office

my dd wS ref there by our paediatrician after an mmr vaccination at age 4 caused autistic encephalitis she was there for 6 days. Its all the hidden costs that's ignoring the sheer worry and stress if the whole situation she then attended as an out patient there
They did pay for a taxi there and back on one occasion

My son was referred there from our local NHS hospital as he needed a kidney biopsy and an albumin infusion, he has a condition called Nephrotic Syndrome. It was quite incredible being there and I slept in the room with him for a number of nights that he was admitted (twice). I actually found it all very overwhelming weirdly, there are so many really sick children there, you get this window into a club you really don't want to be in 😞.

I've got twins and they were both 2.5 months premature and were admitted to GOSH to be operated on at minus 2 weeks old. I felt like I've had two separate experiences that I'd never want to repeat and saw people undergoing the most intense, stressful experiences of their lives. I still think about it now and my DT's are 22 this year. I ran a marathon to raise funds for GOSH, you never forget what they do for children, an amazing place 💕

No you definitely can't just turn up, we were transferred by ambulance

Oh my gosh! Poor little thing. And how strange for her sister and sad for them as siblings not having that time together. Her parents must have been so stressed! Glad to hear she got the right treatment though

My DS is under the care of GOSH. He has cystic kidney disease and we go twice a year to check the cysts aren't taking over the function of his kidneys. We were referred from our local hospital as they weren't happy with the scans. It was a very stressful time and we worry when his appointments are due but GOSH are amazing and we know our youngest Dc is in the best hands if anything changes.

My son went there when he was 2 after he swallowed something he shouldn't have. He had a lovely 2 days with all the other children and did not want to come home!

My ds is under its care and has had an op there, we stayed in the accommodation. We were referred by our local hospital when my ds was diagnosed with a heart condition. I've also wondered about why it gets so much charity donations when it's nhs but it is a great hospital and feels extremely child centric compared to local hospitals, my ds loves his visits.