The organisation will be lifting its restrictions for hospital visitors – meaning patients can welcome loved ones once more.
Visiting will be limited to one person per patient for up to an hour at a time – booked by appointment directly through the hospital ward or area.
This applies to all types of visiting other than for patients on end of life care or with dementia (John’s Campaign) – both which have less limited visiting measures.
Visitors will still not be allowed to go into areas with patients who have COVID-19.
Anyone who is considering visiting but feels unwell and has virus symptoms is asked not to attend.
Lindsey Robertson, chief nurse, said: “We know what an anxious and worrying time it can be for patients in hospital. And we recognise the importance of having friends and family there to offer love and support.
“The public have understood that reluctantly we had to put these restrictions in place for the safety of staff, patients and the wider community.
“We now feel the time is right – at a time when cases of the virus have reduced – for us to remove many of these restrictions and allow visiting so that patients have that support which we know is so important.
“We ask loved ones who would like to visit a patient to contact the hospital ward directly to book an appointment and they will be happy to arrange this.
“Thank you to our public for their continued patience and support over the course of the last 18 months. We appreciate how challenging it has been for every one of us.”
PPE for our visitors
Visiting patients
To help keep everyone safe when you’re visiting someone at our Trust, please wear a face mask and sanitise your hands.
We have mask and hand gel points available throughout the Trust.
Your mask should fit snugly against your face, leaving no gaps. Please keep your nose, mouth and chin covered at all times and avoid touching your mask.
While you’re visiting, you can wear your own mask around the main building but you must wear a blue face mask when visiting our wards. If you don’t have your own, we have plenty available. Please ask a member of staff.
Our staff will show you the most effective way to wash and dry your hands.
Make sure you wet your hands first before using soap and take care to clean your fingertips, thumbs and wrists.
Remember these policies are in place to help protect you, your loved one and our staff.
You might be asked to wear PPE when visiting our wards. If you’re not sure how to put it on or need assistance, please ask a member of staff to help you.
After your visit, staff will show you how to remove any PPE effectively to keep you safe.
Please dispose of this in the bins provided.
You will then be asked to wash your hands again before leaving the ward area.
Please make sure you continue to wear your face mask until you have left the building.
Remember to wash or sanitise your hands after disposing of your mask.
Any visitors must wear a mask unless they are exempt from doing so. These are available at reception areas.
To contact the relevant area, ring the main switchboard number on 01642 617 617 and ask for the ward area.