Partner has nowhere to stay whilst I stay in hospital with our son who is recovering from a operation

[oldmoutcider]

Son has had an operation and we were due to stay four nights. Operation didn’t go as planned so we now in for the foreseeable. We had a hotel booked for him to stay at for four nights at a cost to ourselves whilst I stayed at the hospital but we need to stay longer and only one can stay by the bedside.
Hospital are now saying they have no accommodation for him. We are 2.5 hours from home. Any idea what we are expected to do?

@PearlyShampsThank you. He is a superstar and everyone has been absolutely amazing. I am so sorry about your little one. Unfortunately they don’t have the specialist doctors my son requires closer to home so we will be coming here. My partner was given accommodation last night but it isn’t guaranteed for future nights x

@CamelcarpetChecked over the past few days whilst nipping to get food and the Disney reef hasn’t been open once. Sign on the door saying temporarily closed due to the weather x

I am sorry to hear this and I hope he makes a quick recovery.
Hospitals have come a long way from a few years ago and there is some fantastic work from some charities to provide family accommodation. Sadly the NHS cannot do everything although they do a fantastic job with what they have, I think best to look at local Travelodges / Premier Inn / AirB&B and maybe swap so both of you manage to have a (worried / disturbed) sleep either locally or at the bedside.

Frustrating, maybe look into charities that offer this and try to raise money for this hospital to provide extra.

There are very cheap places to stay in London, some amazing some more questionable, if you hunt around. But there is nothing else you can do, he finds a cheap place to stay or heads home and you keep him updated.

Maybe they do have family accommodation that they could offer, but the family using it have also been delayed so have stayed on.

not ideal I know, but found AirB&B for £117 per night in Camden, I imagine a Travelodge would be cheaper.

good luck as this is a time you want your DH around for support.

You can get a hostel a couple of miles away from the hospital for about £12 a night. And lots of hostels around or less than 2 miles away for around the £15-30 a night mark. And hotels around that distance start at about £40 a night.

I'm sure if they really want to stay, a cheap bunk in a hostel won't be an issue.

I'm so sorry to hear that your son had such a lengthy stay. Our son had Burkitts lymphoma and the tumor perforated his bowel - the surgeon knew what it was immediately. My son is fine now, and at Uni. He is almost 15 years post-diagnosis. Hope your son is doing well now too... and that YOU are OK too xx

I do hope the situation is sorted soon... you don't need that stress on top of the worry over your little one.
All is well with my boy (man) now, he's almost 21, and fighting fit.
Much love to you xx

My son had Burkitts Lymphoma too. His caused a twist in his bowel and some of it to die which then caused septic shock and multi organ failure which is a reason why he was in hospital for so long.

He just reached 1 year in remission last month. I'm glad to hear that your son is doing well now xx

When my child was in hospital seriously ill, only one of us stayed, we figured it was better for my husband to go home and go to work especially as only 1 allowed at the bedside, no point in him being there really. My husband then had time off afterwards when we came home!

Thank you. My child's next operation is at the end of the year and it's such a small thing, but that sign will probably stay up all winter now 😭

I hope your son is ok. X

I will be honest it is very unusual for both parents to be needing to stay when there is another child at home - extended family is great but it’s a very long time for your older child to have no parental care. Typically the other parent goes home for this reason, or because of course an income still needs to be earned. Presumably your husband also needs to get back to work as you’ve both missed a week?

There is no doubt it’s an extremely stressful situation but both parents staying when there are other children and employment obligations is an unusual request. It’s not too surprising the hospital is not set up for it.

If it was so unusual, charity's offering parental accommodation wouldn't exist. It's obviously high in demand too since there is almost always a waiting list as OP herself has experienced.

My husband was able to take some compassionate leave from work on full pay so getting back to work, especially at first, wasn't a concern at all.

Are you in a hospital fund like simply health or sovereign healthcare? You can claim parental stay and hospital visits on that. I have got 60 per night when my daughter was in hospital.

@ClonakillaMy partners work has been very understanding and have allowed him to have special leave on full pay. They were good when my child was born as I went into labour early when he had only been there two weeks.

They are set up for it. My post was originally about having no where to stay on a Sunday night as there was no one in the hospital to sort this out on a weekend. He was given accommodation for the other nights we stayed after that.

@TomselleckhaskindeyesNo unfortunately not. I used to work for a healthcare company selling their policies many many moons too!