Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children

By Nathan DeWitt

I chose to profile Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children because I am a kidney transplant recipient myself, and have spent plenty of time in children's hospitals in the United States. I figured it would be interesting to get a glimpse into a hospital here in the UK and note some of the differences. 

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) was founded in 1852 and was the first hospital providing in-patient beds specifically for children in the English-speaking world. 

GOSH is located on Great Ormond Street in North Central London, just four blocks from our flats on Bedford Place. It is part of a larger, three-block section of hospitals all next to each other, as shown in the overhead picture.

This is in the reception area of the children’s hospital, located on the first floor. As you can see, there are bright, inviting colors and comfortable chairs for patients and families to wait to be helped. The hospital does a good job of moving patients in and out quickly due to their large number of staff. 

GOSH Pals, located in the main lobby on the first floor of the hospital, is a free and confidential service which helps patients, parents, and carers with any information, concerns, or problems that they have about their hospital care or service. 

These are typical ambulances in London. They serve all hospitals on the block. They are smaller than ambulances in the US, mainly because the roads in London are smaller due to their age. Often times, ambulance drivers are found sitting in the driver’s seat, waiting for an emergency call. This is a very informal parking strategy compared to emergency services at American hospitals. 

This is a park across the street from GOSH. It is calm, serene, green, and provides a place for families and patients to relax and reflect when they need to get away from the hustle and bustle of the hospital scene for a bit. The park is surrounded on the far side by an array of restaurants.