This page was last updated: June 30th, 2021
If you change your mind before the procedure, you can withdraw that consent, even after signing. Remember: it’s your decision and your consent. Ask as many questions as you like, and remember to tell the healthcare team about any concerns, or about any medication, allergies or past history which might affect your general health.
Pharmacy will let you have anything new or different you might need, and make sure you’ve got a good supply to take home. A pharmacist and pharmacy technician will usually visit the ward on weekdays. Their job is to make sure your drug treatment is safe and effective, and they’ll:
Even when the pharmacy department is closed, there’s an on-call pharmacist to provide emergency advice and supply.
In exceptional cases, a patient of the opposite sex who needs very specialised or urgent care might take priority, and if this happens, we’ll make sure the time a patient spends in this environment is kept to an absolute minimum and extra care is taken to protect the patient’s privacy and dignity.
We ask all our patients to respect the privacy and dignity of others, and expect you to show the kind of respect to others as you’d expect yourself, particularly when using toilets and washing facilities. If you have any concerns, please let us know.
Read more about our care promise to all of our patients.
There are plenty of things you can do to help us, these include:
Find out more about how we work to prevent infection on our quality and safety standards page.
We carry out research to find better ways to treat or look after people, and there are lots of different kinds of research: some projects are questionnaires about your experiences, some look at how effective your treatment is and others might be to assess new treatments, drugs or devices such as pacemakers.
While you’re being treated at Royal Cornwall Hospitals, a nurse or doctor might ask you about taking part in a research study.
Whatever type it is, it will have been reviewed by an external independent group to make sure it’s as safe as possible and the right kind of study for patients in Cornwall. They’ll give you as much information as you need to help you make an informed decision, and we would always encourage you to talk it over with family, friends or anyone else you choose. Taking part in research is entirely your choice, and your decision will never affect the quality of care you receive.
If you’d like to know more, or see if there’s any research you might be suitable for, please visit our dedicated research section, feel free to ask your nurse or doctor when you’re here, or call the Senior Research Nurse on 07917 237357.