Hospital stay bag checklist
Pack light: storage by the bed is a small locker and nothing else. The documents group is the one worth doing twice, because nobody can find a phone number on a trolley.
47 items
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
The items
- Documents
- Admission letter and appointment details
- ID and health insurance details
- A written list of medication, doses and times
- Allergies written down
- Next of kin names and numbers on paper
- Any advance decision or care plan
- Glasses prescription, if you wear them
- Medication
- Your own medicines in their original boxes
- Inhalers, pens or devices you use daily
- Enough for a stay one day longer than planned
- Anything you take at an unusual hour, flagged
- Clothes
- Nightwear that opens at the front
- Dressing gown
- Slippers with a back to them, not flip-flops
- Underwear and socks×3
- Loose clothes to go home inWhatever you arrived in may not go back on comfortably. Loose and soft, every time.
- Washbag
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Soap or shower gel
- Deodorant, unscented if you can
- Hairbrush and hair ties
- Lip balm — wards are extremely dry
- Moisturiser
- Wet wipes
- Towel, small
- Comfort
- Long phone charger cable×2
- Earplugs and an eye mask
- Water bottle with a lid you can open lying down
- Headphones
- Something to read that does not need concentration
- A little cash for the trolley or a newspaper
- Tissues
- Snacks you are allowed to have
- Leave at home
- Jewellery and watches
- Large amounts of cash
- Anything you would mind losing
- Before you go
- Arrange the lift home — you may not be allowed to drive
- Someone to check the house, the post and the pets
- Tell work and arrange cover
- Follow the fasting instructions exactly
- Leave a key with someone
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- What should I take to hospital?
- Documents and medication list, a change of clothes, toiletries, a long charger cable, and something to do. Leave jewellery and anything valuable at home.
- What do people forget?
- A charger cable long enough to reach a socket behind the bed, earplugs, a water bottle with a lid, and loose clothes for going home when everything hurts.