Hospital Admission Bag Checklist

Who this is for

A packing list for a planned stay in hospital. It runs through the papers, the medicines and medical items, the washing and dressing things and the arrangements for coming home, with blank lines throughout for whatever your own ward has asked you to bring.

Anyone with a date for an admission or a day procedure, relatives packing a bag for somebody else, carers getting a person ready to go in, and people who have been sent home from a pre-admission appointment with a lot to remember.

What this helps you track

• The papers and details worth taking, gathered before the morning of admission
• Medicines and medical items packed the way you were asked to bring them
• Washing, dressing and comfort things for a stay of unknown length
• What needs sorting at home before you go
• The going-home arrangements, agreed rather than improvised on the day

How to use it

1. Write the admission date, the hospital and the ward at the top, with the phone number for the ward.
2. Ask the hospital what they want you to bring and what they would rather you left at home, and write it on the blank lines before you pack anything.
3. Work down the lists ticking as you pack, rather than packing first and checking afterwards.
4. Put the paperwork somewhere you can reach it one-handed on the day — it is the part most often left on the kitchen table.
5. Settle the going-home arrangements before you go in: who collects you, when, and who has the keys.
6. Print a fresh copy for each admission, or fill it in online and save it in your own browser.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Does this list say what the hospital will provide?

No, because it differs from one hospital and one country to the next. Ring the ward or read the letter they sent you, and write what they tell you on the blank lines.

Should I take my own medicines?

Ask the hospital before you pack them. Different places want this handled differently, so the list leaves a line for what you were told rather than telling you what to do.

How much should I pack?

Enough for a few days that somebody could carry in one trip, and arrange for the rest to be brought in. Stays get extended and lockers beside beds are small.

Is this list any use for a day procedure?

Yes — work down it and ignore the sections that do not apply. The papers, the going home arrangements and the transport are the parts that matter most on a day case.

Can I use it for somebody else?

That is what the blank lines are mostly for. Pack with the person if you can, and write down where things are so they can find them once they are in.