Going into hospital, attending appointments or preparing for an emergency admission can be much easier when staff have clear information about how someone communicates, what helps them feel safe, and what medical support they need. The hospital passport is designed as an editable autism health passport where key details can be written down before a hospital visit, outpatient appointment, planned procedure or inpatient stay.
The template includes space for personal details, address, date of birth, hospital number, religion, language, two key contacts and how the person says yes and no. It also has sections for key information, medication, allergies and medical conditions, making it suitable for parents, carers, autistic adults, support workers and health professionals who need a concise patient passport or communication passport for hospital care.
A practical section focuses on medical procedures and asks how to support the person with administering medication, needle procedures, blood pressure checks, inserting an IV line, oxygen, ventilation, imaging and anaesthetic. For each procedure there are prompts for whether no support, support or sedation is needed, with space to describe what works, such as using a mask for anaesthesia if that is less stressful.
The later pages cover important day-to-day support needs that can affect hospital care, including how the person communicates, how others can recognise pain, what makes them anxious and how to help. Further prompts ask about toileting, washing, dressing, eating and drinking preferences, likes and dislikes, night-time routines and what to do if the person wakes during the night.
For families preparing an autism hospital passport, SENCOs, learning disability nurses, paediatric teams, adult autism services and social care staff, the layout offers a straightforward way to share personalised information quickly. Ambitious about Autism is named on the passport, and the format is particularly relevant for autistic people who may not communicate verbally, become anxious in unfamiliar settings, or need reasonable adjustments during medical care.
