Hospital Passport

What is a hospital passport?

The Hospital passport is designed to help people with learning disabilities feel safe and secure whilst receving treatment in hospital. 

How does it work?

The hospital passport uses a traffic light system to proritise a patients’ information; red, amber and green. 

Red is for vitally important information about medical interventions and how to carry out procedures such as taking medication or blood pressure so not as to cause alarm.

Amber includes communication and how to share information, as well as eating requirements when in hospital. It also details the support a patient might need with such things as dressing or washing and any help they might need to keep safe during their hospital stay.

Green is information such as likes and dislikes and the chance for staff to understand what makes a vulnerable person with specific needs feel happy in their environment so they can help a person feel at ease.

Raising awareness

Healthwatch North Somerset and staff at Weston Hospital are helping to raise awareness of the scheme after patients told us they sometimes had suffered stress when clinicians were not informed of their specific needs or what was important to them.

The request to raise awareness of the passports and help more patients sign up for them before they are admitted to hospital, was raised back in May at an Healthwatch North Somerset focus group.

Complex Needs Sister at Weston Hospital, Hayley Johnson, who is often called to assist patients with specific needs when they enter hospital, says all the information is important and she helps ensure the passports are read and followed as much as possible as they can make a real difference to how a person feels in sometimes stressful or difficult situations. She said:

“I have had a case when a person was on the ward but didn’t feel able to communicate. I looked at the hospital passport and was able to find out they were a Bristol Rovers fan and looked up a previous match and started a conversation about the game. The person then started talking and felt happier.”