This information is intended to help you feel comfortable and relaxed about visiting a patient at The Harbour. 

We realise that this is a difficult time for you and your relative/friend/partner, but we would like to assure you that an experienced team of professionals is caring for them during their stay at The Harbour. A Carer Link is identified on each ward area. Please contact the ward if you wish to speak to them or any of the care team staff.

Consent from the person you are visiting will need to be obtained before any information can be passed to you, although we welcome any information you can provide us that will assist with care.

We have various procedures in place to ensure that our hospital is safe and secure for all our patients, visitors and staff. We hope that as you become used to visiting, these will be less daunting.

Before you visit

Visiting times wards are Everyday between 1pm and 7.45pm. Alternative times may be arranged on request with the Nurse in Charge or Ward Manager. 

Visiting times on the Byron and Keats PICU are by arrangement with these wards.

A member of the nursing team will be available to support you throughout the visit.

Occasionally circumstances arise which means the visit is postponed or cancelled at short notice. If you are visiting the PICU, it may be useful to phone first to ensure the visit can still go ahead. 

We do not allow under 18's to enter the wards, but we have 2 Family visiting rooms available, with toys and games that younger visitors are welcome to use. These visits must be arranged in advance and booked with the ward to ensure the room is available.

Getting to The Harbour

Cycle, car and motorbike parking spaces are provided free of charge on the hospital site for visitors, service users and staff (including visiting professionals). Disabled car parking spaces, large enough to allow wheelchair users to access their vehicles are also available.

Blackpool Transport Bus Network is a local bus operator serving the Fylde Coast with a high frequency bus network linking Lytham, St Annes, Blackpool, Bispham, Fleetwood, Cleveleys and Poulton.

A number of Blackpool Transport bus routes stop within a short walking distance from The Harbour site

  • 3 (Cleveleys to Mereside Tesco) via the Blackpool and Fylde College, Bispham, Blackpool town centre and Park Road. Approximately every 20 minutes
  • 4 (Cleveleys to Mereside Tesco) via Norbreck, Bispham, Blackpool town centre and Whitegate Drive. Approximately every 20 minutes.
  • 14 (Fleetwood to Mereside Tesco) via Thornton, Carleton, Layton Blackpool town centre and Cherry Tree Road. Approximately every 10 minutes.
  • 16 (Blackpool Town Centre to Poulton) via Whitegate Drive, South Shore, Harrowside, Mereside Tesco, Stanley Park, Hospital, Bispham, Blackpool and Fylde College, Norcross. Approximately every 30 minutes.
  • 20 (Marton Mere Camp to Blackpool Town Centre) via Stanley Park, Blackpool Zoo, Model Village, Newton Drive, Hornby Road and Park Road. This is a seasonal service operating annually from April during weekends, bank holidays and every day during the school holidays. The service finishes toward the beginning of November until the spring, when the service resumes.

For further information and bus routes visit the Blackpool Transport website. For general enquiries, telephone 01253 473 001.

Stagecoach operates the number 61 bus service between Preston and Blackpool, which stops directly outside The Harbour. You can download Stagecoach Bus timetables from their website.

Blackpool is well-connected to the national railway network with regular services to Preston, with national connections, Blackburn, Manchester and Leeds. The nearest train station is Blackpool North, approximately 3 miles from The Harbour.

Visit Northern's website for up to date train times and information.

Secure bike storage will be available on the site.

When you arrive

Parking is free. At the reception, please inform the staff who you are visiting. They will provide you with a visitor's badge after asking you a couple of details. This is a necessary requirement for your safety in the event of a fire evacuation. You will be asked to wear this badge at all times. They will then direct you to the ward you are visiting. To get to the ward, you will pass through a door that can only be unlocked by a staff member.

During your visit

Your visit will take place on the ward, in the designated visiting area. This will be set aside for you. In the interest of preserving other patients' privacy and confidentiality, we ask that you do not wander about in the ward.

Please note that The Harbour and the surrounding hospital site is a non-smoking facility for all visitors, patients and staff. Additionally, it may be possible for you to go for a walk outside or attend the Hospital cafe with your relative/friend/partner. This may have to be agreed in advance by the care team in some circumstances.

When you leave The Harbour, please hand your visitors badge back into the main reception.

Restricted items

In the interest of promoting a safe and secure therapeutic environment for all, we find it necessary to limit or deny access to certain types of items, which our experience tells us could be potentially harmful or risky to people or damaging to property.

The primary nurse or the nurse in charge will be very happy to explain the details to you if you wish, but here are some general guidelines to help you.

We don't allow free access to:

  • Matches or cigarette lighters
  • Sharp implements such as knives, tools or other utensils, drawing pins etc
  • Alcohol, drugs or medication of any kind
  • Glass, tins or pots, plastic bags
  • Recording instruments: cameras, camcorders, tape-recorders, blank tapes
  • Lap-top/palm-top computers/personal organisers.