The Hospital Passport is a communication, information sharing tool, the aim of which is to enable the voice of the child.
The Hospital Passport contains important information, such as medical history, medications and baseline health for the child.
The Hospital Passport also contains information about how a child communicates; how they express pain and anxiety, their likes and dislikes.
The practitioner should read the Hospital Passport prior to meeting the patient so that they may build up a rapport and put into place any reasonable adjustments. This could include communication technique, or the way a medical intervention is carried out. This enables staff to understand the child in a unique way and therefore prevent any diagnostic overshadowing and discrimination due to disability.
For patients who have complex and extensive medical histories, the Hospital Passport ensures that important information is not forgotten during times of stress as well as trying to alleviate the parent from repeating themselves to numerous practitioners.
This Hospital Passport is also beneficial to families whose first language is not English, and may struggle to find the right terminology in a noisy and stressful Emergency Department to explain their child's health needs. The Hospital Passport is owned by the child, it is brought in to the medical setting with them, and a photocopy should be taken by the attending practitioner and placed in the folder.
The Hospital Passport for Children has child friendly pictures, includes school nurse and health visitor details. This passport also includes a page on sensory sensitivities. The Hospital Passport for Children is actively being promoted and parents are encouraged to return to the hospital with this.
The Hospital Passport empowers parents to feel supported and reassured their child will receive the right care. Parents are the experts in their children, the hospital passport ensures care and treatment receive safe and equitable care.
Within BHRUT, a photocopy is made and is kept in a folder in the Emergency Department, with a brief summary of the patient, this enables staff to have access to the Hospital Passport if it is forgotten by the parent and allows the practitioner to understand a background to the patient.