The Hospital Environment


The hospital environment can be confusing for patients and their family and friends.  There are many clinicians involved in the treatment of trauma patients and it can be hard to know exactly what is happening to you or your loved one.  

Depending on the nature of your injuries, doctors from a variety of specialties could treat you including:

  • Emergency Department (ED) Consultants
  • Anaesthetists
  • Intensivists
  • Orthopaedic Surgeons
  • Neurosurgeons
  • Facial Surgeons
  • Plastic Surgeons
  • Trauma Surgeons
  • Vascular Surgeons
  • Urologists

We know the patient journey is different for everyone and encourage patients to utilise the ' My Patient Passport' resource to help answer any questions and keep initial notes during the early stages of your recovery journey. Please note this resource has been developed by the Royal London Hospital and is specific to this hospital. However, some of the more general information can be applied to most hospital settings. This resource can be accessed Here.

Multidisciplinary team members (MDT)


Because there are many different people that will look after you in hospital, it can be confusing trying to remember who does what or what they said. We have made a template which you can download to write down the peoples’ names that you will meet if you want to remember them. You can also record people's names and any other information you'd like in the diary section of the AfterTrauma recovery app.

Some of the people that may help you recover include nurses and health care assistants (HCAs) that are on the ward all the time. They will give you your medication; monitor your temperature, blood pressure and your breathing. They will also help you to get washed and dressed if this is difficult or help you to get to the bathroom. Nurses and HCAs are very important members of the team as they are on the ward all the time and can see how you recover. They are then able to tell the doctors how you are doing to enable to doctor to decide on what additional treatment you may need or if you can go home.

In some hospitals there is a daily WARD ROUND. MDT members will go from patient to patient on the ward and discuss how they are recovering. The team will usually have a doctor that leads the discussion but nurses, therapists, pharmacists and even medical students may contribute or be present. This can be quite overwhelming for patients but it's important to discuss recovery and progress. Patients should feel free to ask questions during the ward rounds and write down anything they do not understand or may forget. It will help to have the information at hand when your family or friends come to visit. Here is another template that you may want to use to write down the information.

More information can be found in the Life after trauma section where rehabilitation is discussed.