Paul O’Gorman Patient Hotel

Undergoing treatments for leukaemia is stressful enough for children and their families.

To ease the anxiety of the unpleasant circumstances, we contributed £2 million to create the Paul O’Gorman Patient Hotel which offers accommodation before and after day treatments.

Because of the wide catchment area of the specialist team at Great Ormond Street, there is a great demand for appropriate and supportive accommodation for children being treated for leukaemia and other types of cancer.

The hospital has placed great emphasis on the development and expansion of its day care services so that children can receive care more convenient for them and their families and avoid overnight stays on the ward.

We recognised the need for the development of their facilities and have commited £2.4 million to expand and enhance Elephant Day Care and haematology/oncology outpatient and day care facilities.

There are some children, however, who require overnight observation after treatment. The long journey to and from London for outpatient treatment can prove too much for the children and consequently they often end up being admitted overnight. Not only does this cause upheaval for children and their families, but it also absorbs valuable in-patient beds.

The Paul O’Gorman Patient Hotel - just across the road from the hospital - supports day care facilities at GOSH by providing a place for children to stay before and after their day treatment.

Young patients can travel to London with their familes in the afternoon before treatment, stay in a comfortable environment with their family overnight, and travel home the next day.

With rising patient numbers, the Patient Hotel also frees up hundreds of beds for those children who especially require overnight stays in the ward and allows the hospital to treat more children.

Hundreds of children have stayed in the Hotel since it opened its doors in October 2004, making their hospital visits less distressing. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters we were able to contribute £2 million towards the cost of providing this new facility.

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