Major Trauma - Welcome to Ward T4 of the Greater Manchester Major Trauma Hospital Ward (GMMTH)

Welcome to Ward T4 of the Greater Manchester Major Trauma Hospital Ward (GMMTH).

What is a Major Trauma Centre?

A Major Trauma Centre provides specialist services for people who have suffered traumatic injury, for example as a result of car accidents or falls from a great height. People who suffer severe injury need the highest quality specialist care to give them for the best chance of survival and recovery.

Major Trauma Centres aim to save lives and reduce long term disability by giving people urgent access to specialist trauma teams and state of the art equipment. It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and has specially trained teams that treat and care for you when you first arrive and throughout your stay.

Patients arrive at the Major Trauma Centre usually by road or air ambulance. This is after an assessment by the paramedic or doctor at the scene of the incident who decide that a Major Trauma Centre is required.

Alternatively, some patients will be transferred very quickly (within a few hours) from another smaller hospital called a Trauma Unit. They may have been taken there to be stabilised before transferring to the Major Trauma Centre for specialist care.

About the wards

T4 is part of the Greater Manchester Major Trauma Network, it is a 24 bedded unit caring for trauma patients with a variety of injuries. Our patients require input from multiple specialities including orthopaedics, general surgery, spinal, neurosurgery, ENT, plastics and maxillofacial services. The patients also have access to specialist therapy services. All the nurses and support workers pride themselves in delivering patient centred care and are all skilled in caring for patients with a wide range of injuries. The ward consists of four bays and single patient side rooms. We have a day room for you to use when visiting your relatives or the café is available in the Hope building next door.

Contact Details

Ward T4 is situated in the Greater Manchester Major Trauma building, the telephone contact numbers for the ward are listed below:

T4 Main Ward - 0161 206 1037
T4 Ward reception - 0161 206 1331

The current ward manager for T4 is Jennifer Burke, who can be contacted on the ward between 7am and 3pm Monday to Friday. If out of hours, please don’t hesitate to leave a message with one of the ward sisters or nursing team along with a contact number and we will get back to you at the earliest convenience. We advise that you ring the ward after 10am, as the nursing staff will be busy before this time completing medication rounds, personal cares and ensuring patients have had their breakfast.

Car parking

The hospital has a main car park within the hospital grounds. Car parking prices are clearly displayed on the pay and display machines. The ward can provide a letter for a weekly car parking pass at a reduced fee. This is available from the ward co-ordinator upon request and is to be taken to car parking services.

Visiting times

Visiting times on the ward are 10am - 7pm, 7 days a week.

We do operate protected mealtimes between 5.30pm - 6.30pm. We ask at this time that this is respected to ensure patients are given privacy during mealtimes.

We understand that visiting times can be difficult to manage at certain times so if you have any concerns with the above visiting times, please discuss this with the ward manager or sisters on shift.

It is 2 people only at the bedside at any one time. You are asked to use the chairs provided and not to sit on the patient's bed.

We try to have a quiet hour between 4pm and 5pm to give our patients some rest time, after a potentially busy and active day. During these times lights may be dimmed and any televisions or music will be turned down or headphones used.

Children under the age 10 may not be permitted to visit the ward without Manager’s discretion. Please contact the ward manager or ward sisters to enquire.

During your hospital stay

We ask that during your stay you keep belongings to a minimum and bring only essentials in such as nightwear, toiletries and a change of clothing. You do not need to bring towels as these are provided by the ward. There is a limited amount of space in the ward, and we need to ensure the cleanliness of the environment. We ask that you place all your belongings in the lockers provided to reduce clutter.

Fresh water is always available at the bedside, hot drinks and biscuits are brought round throughout the day and are available upon request. Family members can bring food in with them, but we are unable to heat this up for you so please bare this in mind. We can store cold food in the ward fridge. Special menus are available for specific diets and religions. If you require a special dietary requirement, please make the staff aware and they will be happy to assist you.

Due to infection control precautions, the ward is not able to have balloons or flowers at the bedside. We also advise that any photographs, pictures, or letters are laminated so that they can be kept clean to prevent any infections. We do advise on the ward that any private property such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops etc are brought in at your own risk.

Cultural and religious needs

The chaplaincy and spiritual care team are available within the hospital. Should you require any support or wish to be seen by a member of the department please speak to the nurse in charge and they can arrange this for you.

Patient/Relative Feedback

If you would like to leave any patient/relative feedback, there are many options available to do this:

On the screen at your bedside is the patient experience discharge survey. We encourage patients to complete this on discharge to provide advice and information on how you feel to improve the service we provide.

Via the Patient Advice Liaison Service (PALS) Twitter - #WardT4

You can also scan the QR code below.

On your discharge

Please read your discharge paperwork for your next appointments, which will be sent out to you in the post.