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.

One of my DD's went there for an immune system disorder, referred from another large hospital. It was interesting place and staff were very nice. I remember we got a taxi from Kings Cross and the driver refused the fare, apparently that's a thing that London cabbies do.

It is a tertiary centre so it takes referrals only for specialist care. Sometimes this is planned and sometimes this is done as an emergency, e.g. if a child needs an ICU bed. There is no A&E. Their main source of funding is NHS, but like many hospitals. It also generates income via it's charity, by being commissioned for research trials and private overseas patients. It's also supported by external charities such as Ronald McDonald House which funds accommodation at many children's hospitals. For NHS hospitals it is relatively (but still poorly) well funded as sick children are generally quite easy to fundraise for.

We tested out that theory after my ds' op as had also heard it and got a taxi from outside the hospital to the train station as ds was too poorly to get the tube, we were charged so it's definitely not all cabbies!

I imagine they need much more in terms of charity donations to support people who have to travel and stay from all over the country, as some of the treatment is very specific and can only take place there. You often hear in the news about babies/children from other countries where there are no specialists in a particular area or the families would never be able to afford treatment of the kind that is needed who are treated at GOS, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of the charity money is needed for that as well. (Not just the private care used by those who are well able to pay).

I have memories from 1984 when my sister was there. The playcentre even then was amazing, as was the teacher who came onto the ward frequently to set projects for those well enough to have a go. My sister was there for six months and I'm pretty sure they had fundraising stuff happening all around us most of the time.

My son was there twenty one years ago. He got transferred from our local hospital with acute kidney failure.

It’s an amazing place, and I agree with a lot of what @Mydiaryisblue says. I also remember our stay there vividly, possibly.

My son run a half marathon to raise money for them and still donates monthly.

(When we were there, I saw Doodles from The Tweenies).

My DS was referred there for treatment when his birthmark ulcerated when he was 2.

I wish people would support their local childrens hospitals . Rather than GOSH. I swear people think it's the only children's hospital in the country.

Yep, always baffles me when people bypass their local children’s hospital (which they are far more likely to ever need) and give donations to GOSH instead

Newborn dc crashed in our local hospital (which is a hospital that babies are normally transferred to), they discovered the extremely rare illness, that illness is managed only by GOSH, so they ran the treatment while at the local hospital when finally dc didn’t get better they sent their own neo natal transfer team and drove the 10mins to GOSH. Dc still has the illness and GOSH still manage the care.

My friend’s DC is there for specialist treatment after being referred. My friend lives just outside of London and her DC is severely brain damaged due to NHS wrrors during their birth.

Long term sick children

Not necessarily. A lot of the time children are admitted into hospital by entering A&E or if 999 has been called for them. GOSH doesn’t have an A&E department so kids don’t really end up there the same as any other hospital.

When DS was in NICU, a crucial part of equipment had broken down due to the heat in the hospital. He was transferred to GOSH simply to use this specific type of equipment. By the time we wanted to return to King’s, there was no space on the ward so he stayed at GOSH for a little while. As per the comments, it’s referral/transfer only

GOSH Is great for weird and wonderful/super rare conditions. Not so much the routine or ordinary stuff.

My DD was bluelighted there from Norwich to NICU. We were there over a month under the Paediatric Neurology team. They have specialist equipment and incredible consultants that really know their stuff. Our consultant insisted on doing a specific test as soon as she saw DD. She was right, not that in made any difference, but without her, that test would have been way down the list as it was so rare. We would probably never have found out what she had as time would have run out before that test had been done.

The foundation covers the play areas, play therapists, etc. We were taken there Christmas Eve. Christmas in GOSH was actually amazing. Free Christmas dinner for all the family, presents for DD AND siblings.

There are other charities too. There was one that specifically worked to set up accomodation nearby for one parent, houses with a kitchen, living room and individual rooms.

At St Thomas’ Neo Natal there’s a free christmas dinner for the entire family (if you want), presents for the baby and present for the siblings.

Ronald McDonald house is available for the out-of-towners which has a room for the family to come and go while the baby is in hospital and a kitchen to share.

I think most of the specialist hospitals offer these facilities.

Many NHS hospitals also have private rooms or wards. Many also have charities and other ways of getting funds.

When the 'wishing well appeal' started for GOSH it was because the first Gulf war had cut off their MS stream of money.

The same day Alder Hay launched its own, but didn't get the publicity.

Also to add some of the unusual things you find at GOSH are the chapel (just not at all what you think it would be like), a Banksy, a samurai sword(?) and a look a like Disney play are thats just for looking at.

I have 2 children with rare genetic conditions, we are lucky that our specialist is in a hospital about an hour away so not to travel and drivable. However after spending 3 weeks in hospital with one of them (private room as he really wasn't well) and being lucky to have a window seat to sleep on please donate to Ronald Mcdonald charity. There was an adult centre on site with rooms if needed, a shower ( I wasn't allowed to shower on ward) and cooking facilities (otherwise only kettle or microwave food bought by yourself). Being an adult with a sick child is tough and I had a husband with child no 2 and sympathic work.

It is an NHS Hospital. One of my children was referred to GOSH straight after birth as was born with an unusual condition. We have been going there for 10 years. He is mainly an outpatient but sometimes stays. It is a wonderful hospital with very dedicated staff.

I was under their care throughout my teens, they specialise in my condition and so my local hospital referred me onto them. They get all profits and proceeds from anything to do with Peter Pan as well as fund raising.

The Ronald McDonald houses at GOSH and other hospitals are a godsend. I stayed in woman’s accomadation when I was there, and they had family units as well.

Anyone remember the giant rocking horses in outpatients waiting area? It was like riding a real horse!

I had eye surgery there in the early 80s and was a yearly outpatient until I went to Uni.

It’s a tertiary care hospital - my two have their care there- you have to be referred from your local secondary care hospital. As we have witnessed, people have heard of it / aware of its status, so it gets huge donations (to the extent that the gifts given to patients at Xmas / even after a blood test show that there is plenty of cash!). I wish other children’s hospitals had the same profile - you don’t need to be at GOSH to be a very sick child.

This 100%. GOSH do some things very well but in a lot of cases there are far better and more specialised hospitals to be at, what really makes them ‘special’ is the level of funding that they receive compared to anywhere else hence the constant gift giving, nicer more modern facilities etc. FWIW I wasn’t overly impressed with the experience we had there!