Patient information leaflets
You can find all of our patient information leaflets on this page.
Our patient information leaflets describe a variety of conditions, investigations and treatments and explain what you can expect from your next visit to hospital. You can see all of our patient information leaflets sorted by service here, or go to our services directory to find the right leaflet for you, along with additional information about each service.
Audiology
- Cleaning and sterilising ear moulds
- Communication awareness
- Hearing aid batteries
- Hearing aid fault finding
- Fitting your new ear moulds to your hearing aid
- Open fitting hearing aids
- Removing condensation
- Retubing ear moulds
- Sound generators
- The induction loop system
- Wax build up guidance
- Lost hearing aid
- Your balance assessment appointment
- Your hearing aid fitting appointment
- Your hearing assessment appointment
- Your microsuction assessment appointment
- Your speech audiometry appointment
- Your tinnitus assessment appointment
Adolescent and young adult healthcare
Bereavement
Blood tests
Cancer services
- Open Access FollowUp OAFU Information for GPs
- Open Access FollowUp OAFU Information for patients relatives and carers
- Non Site Specific Cancer Rapid Diagnostic Centre
- How we are here to support you Arabic
- How we are here to support you English
- How we are here to support you Farsi
- How we are here to support you Filipino Tagalog
- How we are here to support you French
- How we are here to support you Gujarati
- How we are here to support you Hindi
- How we are here to support you Italian
- How we are here to support you Polish
- How we are here to support you Portuguese
- How we are here to support you Punjabi
- How we are here to support you Russian
- How we are here to support you Somali
- How we are here to support you Spanish
- How we are here to support you Urdu
Bowel cancer
- Colorectal Lower Gastrointestinal patient pathway
- Colorectal Open Access FollowUp insert Information for patients relatives and carers
- Cytoreductive surgery CRS followed by heated intraoperative peritoneal chemotherapy HIPEC
- Dietary guide for people with a new ileostomy
- Enhanced Recovery Programme ERP for colorectal surgery
- Erectile dysfunction from colorectal cancer treatment
- FIT Kit
- OAFU for colorectal cancer
- Rectal cancer
Breast services
- After your breast core biopsy
- After your vacuum assisted core biopsy of the breast
- Having a biopsy of the breast core and vacuum assisted
- Having a contrast-enhanced spectral mammogram
- Having an MRI guided biopsy of the breast
- Having nipple areola micropigmentation nipple tattooing
- Having a mammogram
- Support for people with secondary breast cancer
- Open access followup OAFU for breast cancer
- Your vacuum excision biopsy of the breast
Chemotherapy
- Chemotherapy spillage kit
- Cytoreductive surgery CRS followed by heated intraoperative peritoneal chemotherapy HIPEC
- Home administration of trastuzumab by subcutaneous injection
Germ cell and testicular cancers
Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD)
- Atypical placental site nodules
- Gestational Trophoblastic disease
- Gestational trophoblastic disease counselling
- Life after gestational trophoblastic disease
- Molar pregnancy
- Nonmolar miscarriages why you dont need follow up
- Ovarian germ cell cancer
Gynaecological cancer
- Gynaecological cancer health and wellbeing clinics
- Open access followup OAFU for gynaecological cancer
- surgery for vulva cancer
- Nurse led telephone follow up clinic for early stage endometrial cancer
- Nutrition and Ovarian Cancer
Head and neck cancer
- Flying after laryngectomy surgery
- Glossectomy
- Laser surgery and dilatation surgery
- Looking after your voice during radiotherapy for head and neck cancer
- Mandibulectomy
- maxillectomy without recon
- Neck dissection
Lung cancer
Neuro-oncology
Non-site-specific rapid diagnostic centre
Oesophago-gastric cancer
- My treatment plan booklet oesophago gastric service
- Gastroscopy with endoscopic mucosal resection
- Gastroscopy for endoscopic submucosal dissection ESD
- Gastroscopy with radiofrequency ablation RFA for oesophageal dysplasia
- Surgery for cancer of the oesophagus
- Going home after your surgery for cancer of the oesophagus
- Enhanced Recovery Programme ERP for upper GI surgery
Radiotherapy
Skin cancer
Urological and urothelial cancers
Cardiology
- Ambulatory blood pressure monitor
- Ambulatory holter monitor
- Amiodarone
- Atrial fibrillation virtual ward
- Dual Antiplatelet Therapy
- Exercise tolerance test
- Having a 24 hour ambulatory monitor
- Having a 7 day monitor fitting
- Having a device box change
- Having a diagnostic coronary angiogram
- Having a lead revision or extraction
- Having a pacemaker implantation
- Having a percutaneous coronary intervention
- Having a ventricular tachycardia ablation
- Having an atrial fibrillation tachycardia ablation
- Having an atrial flutter ablation
- Having an EET
- Having an electrophysiology study and ablation
- Having an implantable cardioverter defibrillator
- Having an implantable loop recorder ILR implant
- Having an implantable loop recorder ILR removal
- Pulmonary exercise test MV02 test
- 7 day event recorder
Cardiac imaging
- Bubble echocardiogram
- Contrast echocardiogram
- Echocardiogram
- MRI cardiac stress scan with adenosine
- Stress echocardiogram
- Transesophageal Echocardiogram
Cardiovascular health and rehabilitation
Electrophysiology and devices
- Having a device box change
- Having a lead revision or extraction
- Having a pacemaker implantation
- Having an implantable cardioverter defibrillator
- Having an implantable loop recorder ILR implant
- Having an implantable loop recorder ILR removal
- Having a ventricular tachycardia ablation
- Having an atrial fibrillation tachycardia ablation
- Having an atrial flutter ablation
- Having an electrophysiology study and ablation
Heart failure
Inherited cardiac conditions
Percutaneous coronary intervention
Structural heart intervention
Clinical neurophysiology
- Your Home Video Telemetry
- Your childs electroencephalogram test EEG
- Your childs nerve conduction studies electromyography test
- Your Childs Sedated EEG
- Your Childs Sleep Deprived EEG
- Video Telemetry VTEL
- Your ambulatory electroencephalogram
- Your brainstem auditory evoked potential test
- Your Electroencephalogram test EEG
- Your motor evoked potential test
- Your nerve conduction studies electromyography tests
- Your Sleep Deprived EEG test
- Your somatosensory evoked potential test
- Your thermal threshold test
- Your visual evoked potential test
Dermatology
- How to use potassium permanganate soaks
- How can I look after my scar
- How to look after your wound
- Skin surgery
- Teledermatology
- Dermatology PI QR code
Hair and nail disorders
Ear, nose and throat
- Airway injection steroid
- Blue laser to voice box
- Botox injection to voice box
- Superior Laryngeal Nerve Block
- Transnasal oesophagoscopy
- Vocal cord injection
Easy read leaflets
- Domestic abuse easy read
- Having a blood test easy read
- Having a radical nephrectomy easy read
- Having a bronchoscopy easy read
- Having a CT scan easy read
- Having a gastroscopy easy read
- Having a general anaesthetic easy read
- Having an MRI scan easy read
- Having an xray easy read
- How to make a comment or complaint easy read
- Inpatient information leaflet easy read
- Outpatients information leaflet easy read
- MRSA what does it mean
Elderly medicine
Dementia care team
Emergency care
Accident and emergency
End of Life Care
- Advance care planning
- Care in the last days of life
- Eating and drinking in the last months and weeks of life
- Information following a bereavement
- Making decisions about your care and treatment
- Specialist palliative care team
- Support for family and friends after the death of a loved one
Endocrinology
Diabetes
Gastroenterology
- St Marks solution
- St Marks Solution update Feb 2020
- Your treatment to remove pancreatic duct stones Lithotripsy
Endoscopy
- Understanding flexible sigmoidoscopy
- Understanding gastroscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy
- Low residue diet
- How to take bowel prep KleanPrep
- How to take bowel prep Moviprep
- Understanding transnasal gastroscopy
- After your colonoscopy and polypectomy
- After your colonoscopy procedure
- After your endoscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy
- After your endoscopy
- Understanding capsule endoscopy
- Understanding gastroscopy
- Understanding patency capsule test
- Understanding colonoscopy
- Understanding oesophageal manometry and 24-hour pH monitoring
Gynaecology
- Mayer Rokitansky Kuster Hauser syndrome MRKH
- MRKH Psychology service
- Vaginal dilators and MRKH
- Gynaecological abdominal and pelvic surgery
- MRKH considerations for parenthood
- MRKH and menopause
Colposcopy
- What is Colposcopy
- Colposcopy treatment under general anaesthetic
- Following a cervical biopsy
- After your colposcopy treatment
Early pregnancy and urgent gynaecology
- Surgical management of miscarriage
- Pregnancy of unknown location
- Intrauterine pregnancy of uncertain viability
- Medical management of miscarriage
- Miscarriage
- Molar pregnancy hydatidiform mole
Minimal access surgery for gynaecology
Termination of pregnancy
Urogynaecology
Haematology
Red blood cell disorder
- Clinical haematology outpatient department and day care services at HH
- Automated red blood cell exchange for patients with sickle cell disease
- About sickle cell disease
- About thalassaemia
- Clinical haematology welcome pack
- Contraceptive advice for patients with sickle cell disease
- Day pain service for patients with sickle cell disease
- Deferiprone tablets
- Desferrioxamine
- Haemoglobinopathy services for adults
- Hydroxycarbamide treatment in adults with sickle cell disease SCD
- Implanted double lumen Vortex Port
- Pain management for adults with sickle cell disease
- Pregnancy and sickle cell disease
- Priapism in sickle cell disease
- Travelling abroad advice for patients with sickle cell disease and thalassaemia
- Using incentive spirometry in sickle cell disease
Imaging
- Arranging your hysterosalpingogram HSG
- Cerebral Aneurysm
- Having a cerebral angiogram
- Having a CT scan
- Having a CT scan easy read
- Having microwave ablation of a renal kidney tumour
- Having a microwave ablation of liver tumours
- Having an MRI scan easy read
- Having a musculoskeletal ultrasound scan and injection_Final_July 2020
- Having a percutaneous nephrostomy
- Having a percutaneous transhepatic cholangiogram PTC
- Having an ultrasound guided muscle biopsy
- Having an xray easy read
- Mechanical Thrombectomy for Acute Ischaemic Stroke
- PortaCath discharge information
- Radiologically Inserted Gastrostomy
- Sentinel lymph node injection and scan
Infection prevention control
- Carbapenemase producing Enterobacteriaceae
- Clostridium difficile
- Facts about care in isolation
- MRSA screening
- MRSA what does it mean
- Norovirus
- Reducing antimicrobial resistance
- Your role in reducing the risk of infection
Kidney and transplant services
Kidney and pancreas transplantation
Specialist kidney care
- Getting the most from your Sodium Glucose Cotransporter2 Inhibitors
- How to eat less potassium when taking finenerone medication
- Renal department Occupational therapy and frailty
- Renal Physiotherapy and frailty
- Renal social support for patients living with frailty Information for patients relatives and carers
Maternity services
Giving birth
Patients and visitors
- Looking After Yourself and your baby in pregnancy
- Planning Your Birth
- Eating well for mothers who are expressing
- Ferinject
- Follow up care for contraceptive intrauterine device IUD fitted post-birth PPIUC
- Having a maternity scan
- How to start breastfeeding
- Hiring hospital grade breast pumps
- HIV and breastfeeding your baby
- Induction of labour for pregnancy lasting longer than 41 weeks
- Parent Information for newborn babies
- Preventing and treating anaemia during pregnancy
- Safe sleeping for your baby at home
- Self monitoring of blood pressure during pregnancy
- Staying with your partner overnight
- Suspected or confirmed COVID 19 in pregnancy
- Visiting our maternity wards
- What do I need to bring in for my baby babies while they are in the neonatal unit
Medicines management
Neurology
Clinical neurophysiology
- Video Telemetry VTEL
- Your ambulatory electroencephalogram
- Your childs nerve conduction studies electromyography test
- Your brainstem auditory evoked potential test
- Your Childs Sedated EEG
- Your childs electroencephalogram test EEG
- Your Sleep Deprived EEG test
- Your somatosensory evoked potential test
- Your thermal threshold test
- Your visual evoked potential test
- Your nerve conduction studies electromyography tests
- Your Childs Sleep Deprived EEG
- Your Electroencephalogram test EEG
- Your Home Video Telemetry
- Your motor evoked potential test
Nutrition and dietetics
- Easy chew food
- Easy chew food for people with kidney conditions
- Gallstone diet
- How to eat less potassium when taking finenerone medication
- Minced Moist food
- Minced Moist food for people with kidney conditions
- Nasogastric tube feeding in bone marrow transplantation
- Pureed food
- Pureed food for people with kidney conditions
- Soft and bite sized food
- Soft and bite sized food for people with kidney conditions
Ophthalmology
- One stop cataract clinic and questionnaire
- Orbital decompression surgery Information for patients relatives and carers
- Orthoptic and visual field service
- Peripheral Iridotomy Laser
- Preparing for day surgery or a short stay in hospital
- Post operative posturing following vitreoretinal surgery
- Posterior vitreous detachment
- Preserflo MicroShunt treatment for glaucoa
- Pterygium and Surgery
- Ptosis
- Pupil dilating eye drops
- Recurrent corneal erosion
- Retinal detachment
- Retinoplexy laser
- Selective laser trabeculoplasty
- Scleritis Final
- Subconjunctival haemorrhage
- Adult squint surgery
- Toric intraocular lens IOL in cataract surgery
- Trabeculectomy surgery
- Visual aid apps for visual impairment
- What you need to know about your dilating eye drops treatment
- YAG laser capsulotomy
- Your glaucoma clinic journey
- Your visit to the macula clinic
- Corneal cross linking
- Corneal transplants
- Cyclodiode laser treatment for glaucoma
- Dacryocystorhinostomy DCR
- Diabetic retinopathy
- Double vision
- Drainage operation lacrimal bypass using a Lester Jones tube
- Dry eyes
- Ectropion and entropion
- Epiretinal Membrane ERM
- Episcleritis
- Eye preparations that can be bought over the counter
- Evisceration and enucleation
- Eyelid tumours
- Fitting and wearing your glasses
- Fundus fluorescein angiography
- Glaucoma diagnostics and monitoring
- Glaucoma drainage device Tube Implantation
- How to taper off your eye drops
- Immunosuppression for thyroid eye disease
- Immunosuppression in COVID_19
- Implantable Collamer Lens
- iStent treatment for glaucoma
- Lattice Degeneration
- Macular Hole Information for patients relatives and carers
- Medical retina diagnostic clinic March 21 FINAL
- Microbial keratitis
- MINIject Glaucoma drainage device
- Adenoviral conjunctivitis
- Amblyopia and occlusion therapy
- Anterior Uveitis
- Atropine occlusion for children
- Bacterial conjunctivitis
- Blepharospasm eyelid spasm
- Blepharitis and eyelid hygiene treatment
- Blood thinners and oculoplastic surgery
- Botulinum toxin treatment for squint
- Cataract surgery
- Chalazion
- Chlamydial conjunctivitis
- Chronic Open Angle Glaucoma
- Childrens eye care service
- Squint strabismus surgery
- Convergence exercises
Ophthalmology accident and emergency
Orthopaedics
- Hip Replacement Patient Information Booklet
- Knee replacement patient information booklet
- You and your cast
Hand therapy
- Active tendon gliding exercises
- EPiC clinic for complex and closed hand injuries
- Flexor tendon injury
- General finger exercises
- Hand fractures
- How to help sensitive scars
- How to look after scars
- How to use Coban wrap
- Mallet finger
- Mallet finger splint change
- Metacarpal fracture
- Peripheral nerve injury
- Peripheral nerve repair
- Proximal interphalangeal joint PIPJ sprain
- Shoulder exercises
- Splint wear instructions
- Swelling oedema management
- Tendon repairs
- Tuft fracture
- Wrist strengthening exercises
Virtual fracture clinic
Outpatients
- Outpatient information leaflet
- Access your personal health record online
- Patient initiated follow up PIFU
Pain management
- What symptoms to look out for after having an epidural for pain relief
- Qutenza 2020
- Pain injections 2020
Palliative care
Pharmacy
- Changing from branded to generic pirfenidone medicine
- Getting the most from your Sodium Glucose Cotransporter2 Inhibitors
- Homecare medicines service
- How to use potassium permanganate soaks
- Medicines support after leaving hospital
- Self administration of medicines
- Tocilizumab and Sarilumab treatment for Covid 19
- Unlicensed medicines
Physiotherapy
- Improving shoulder and arm pain and movement class for people being treated for breast cancer
- Intro to physiotherapy SMH 2020
- Intro to phyisotherapy CXH 2020
- Welcome to pelvic health physiotherapy
- covid 19 Movement and Activity Exercises V3 revised Final Aug 20
- The Rehabilitation Gym at Charing Cross Hospital
Pelvic health physiotherapy
Plastic and reconstructive surgery
Carpal tunnel care clinic
Respiratory medicine
- After your local anaesthetic thoracoscopy
- After your pleural biopsy
- After your pleural aspiration
- Ambulatory pneumothorax management
- Azithromycin in COPD
- Bronchoscopy
- Chest drain insertion
- COPD virtual ward
- Endobronchial ultrasound EBUS
- Pleural biopsy
- Indwelling pleural catheter IPC aftercare
- Local anaesthetic thoracoscopy
- Pleural aspiration
- Pneumothorax
- Preparing for your indwelling pleural catheter
- Talc pleurodesis
Asthma
Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)
Lung function tests
- Ambulatory oxygen therapy
- Cardiopulmonary exercise test CPET
- Histamine challenge test
- Hypertonic saline trial
- Hypoxic challenge test
- Long term oxygen therapy
- Lung function tests
- Nebulised antibiotic assessment
- Skin allergy tests
Non-invasive ventilation
Pleural disease
- Bronchoscopy
- Pleural biopsy
- After your pleural biopsy
- Local anaesthetic thoracoscopy
- Pleural aspiration
- Preparing for your indwelling pleural catheter
- After your pleural aspiration
- Pneumothorax
- Ambulatory pneumothorax management
- Chest drain insertion
- Indwelling pleural catheter IPC aftercare
- Talc pleurodesis
- Endobronchial ultrasound EBUS
Sleep services
- Your actigraphy study
- How to set up the humidifier on your CPAP machine
- Individual CPAP collection
- Group CPAP collection1
- How to set up your sleep study kit at home
- Your CPAP treatment FAQs
- Your sleep polygraphy at home
- Parasomnia
- Non invasive ventilation
- A timetable for a better nights sleep
- Your polysomnography and multiple sleep latency test
- Your Transcutaneous Carbon Dioxide study
- Your sleep polygraphy in hospital
- Your polysomnography test
Sleep Centre
- Your actigraphy study
- Group CPAP collection
- Your CPAP treatment FAQs
- Your sleep polygraphy at home
- Non invasive ventilation
- Parasomnia
- A timetable for a better nights sleep
- Your polysomnography and multiple sleep latency test
- Your Transcutaneous Carbon Dioxide study
- How to set up the humidifier on your CPAP machine
- How to set up your sleep study kit at home
Speech and language therapy
- Changes to your breathing after laryngectomy surgery
- Consent to register with a third party supplier for stoma products
- Easy chew food
- Easy chew food for people with kidney conditions
- Looking after your neck stoma after laryngectomy surgery
- Looking after your voice during radiotherapy
- Pureed food
- Pureed food for people with kidney conditions
- Soft and bite sized food
- Soft and bite sized food for people with kidney conditions
Surgery
Anaesthetics
Colorectal surgery
- Cytoreductive surgery CRS followed by heated intraoperative peritoneal chemotherapy HIPEC
- Enhanced Recovery Programme ERP for colorectal surgery
General surgery
HPB surgery
Neurosurgery
Pre-assessment for surgery
Trauma services
- Coping with stress after a traumatic event
- Major Trauma Centre
- covid 19 Movement and Activity Exercises V3 revised Final Aug 20
Trustwide
- A guide to the adult post mortem examination
- Having a CT scan
- Having a gastroscopy
- Having a general anaesthetic
- Having an MRI scan
- Having an X ray
- Hospital discharge information
- HIV testing
- Let us know
- MRSA screening
- Preventing deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism
- Preventing deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in coronavirus COVID19 infection Rivaroxaban
- Preventing deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in coronavirus COVID19 infection Apixaban
- Reclaiming the Ultra Low Emission Zone ULEZ charge
- Useful information on your stay in hospital
- Visitor guidance
- When your procedure is cancelled on the day or at short notice
- Working together to prevent pressure ulcers
- Your hospital discharge another place of care
- Your hospital discharge going home
Urology
- Nephrostomy tube after care
- iTind prostate surgery
- NanoKnife focal irreversible electroporation IRE for the treatment of the prostate
Vascular surgery
West London Children's Healthcare
- Extravasation injury
- COVID19 vulnerable children
- Dave the Dog is worried about coronavirus
- Coronavirus toolkit for families
Children's allergy
- Dietary advice for cows milk allergic children who tolerate baked milk
- Dietary advice for egg allergic children who tolerate baked egg
- Drug challenge what you need to know children
- Food challenge what you need to know children
- Following your inconclusive food challenge supervised feed
- Following your successful drug challenge
- Following your successful food challenge supervised feed
- Following your unsuccessful drug challenge
- Following your unsuccessful food challenge supervised feed
- Soya ladder
- Supervised feed what you need to know children
- Wheat ladder
Children's audiology
- Ear wax treatment
- Getting your child to wear their hearing aids
- Glue ear
- Hearing aid fitting appointment
- Transitioning to adult audiology services
- Welcome to the childrens audiology department
- Your babys hearing assessment
- Your childs hearing assessment appointment
- Hearing screening and congenital cytomegalovirus CMV
Children's haematology, blood and marrow transplantation
- Allogenic bone marrow harvest children
- Autologous bone marrow harvest children
- Automated red cell exchange children
- Before your child has a stem cell transplant
- Bone marrow aspirate and trephine children
- Getting ready for your childs bone marrow transplant
- Haematology transition clinic children
- Haemoglobinopathy services at St Marys Hospital children
- Infusion of Desferrioxamine Mesilate Desferal children
- Liver Biopsy A guide for families
- Preoperative testing for blood disorders children
- Priapism and sickle cell disease in adolescents
- Priapism and sickle cell disease in children
- Returning to School after a bone marrow transplant
- Skin biopsy - information for families
- Tissue typing HLA typing
- Transcranial Dopplers TCD children
- Warfarin anticoagulation in children
Children's imaging
Children's infectious diseases
Children's physiotherapy
Children's respiratory
Children's speech and language therapy
Neonatology
- Plant based formula milks
- Dummies on the neonatal unit
- Non birthing partners in the neonatal intensive care unit NICU
- General movements assessment GMA
- Welcome to the neonatal unit at St Marys Hospital
- Welcome to the neonatal unit at Queen Charlottes and Chelsea Hospital
- Early onset neonatal infection
- Probiotics for premature babies
- Choosing a bottle for your baby
- Neonatal Jaundice
- What to bring in for your baby or babies while they are in the neonatal unit
- Dexamethasone Treatment
- Breast milk fortifier on discharge
- Screening for antibiotic resistant bacteria
- Integrated family care programme
- Food for parents guardians and carers on the Winnicott neonatal unit
- Food for parents guardians and carers on the QCCH neonatal unit
- How to use your Miniboo
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