Having visitors can be extremely beneficial to patients and can help with their recovery and wellbeing.
Each ward has a 2 hour visiting time in the afternoon and early evening. The start and finish times vary to meet the needs of patients and the wards. Please contact your ward for their individual visiting times. Your visitors may be able to come outside of these hours with the agreement of ward staff.
Generally, we recommend a maximum of 3 visitors per patient at any one time.
We ask that visitors respect all patients’ needs for rest, treatment and privacy.
When not to visit
For the health and safety of yourself, our patients and staff, please do not visit if you have any signs of illness, particularly coughs, colds or an upset stomach. If you are unsure please ring the ward and speak to the nurse in charge.
Children
In most cases children are welcome to visit - your child's behaviour is your responsibility. Please ask the ward sister or charge nurse before bringing very young children to visit.
You can help by:
- Waiting if, on arrival, your relative or friend is receiving personal care or treatment.
- Leaving, if required, for a short while when a treatment or ward round is due.
- Moving to allow ward cleaning.
- Using the chairs provided and not sitting on the beds.
- Checking with ward staff before bringing flowers on to the ward.
Contacting staff
If you are not sure what to do at any time, please speak to a member of staff.
Names and contact details for the lead sister, charge nurse and matron are available on each ward.
Consultants visit the ward at different times during the week and are kept informed of all their patients’ progress. Please speak to a member of staff for more information.
Patients have the right to choose to whom information about them is given. Please respect that we cannot share information without the patient’s permission.
Carers
We aim to involve you in the care of your relative/friend to a level acceptable to you both. You may already be involved in giving care to a patient. Please speak to the nurse in charge if you wish to continue to do this whilst they are in hospital.
Tips for visitors
If your relative/friend is in hospital it is easy to forget to look after yourself. Remember to give yourself regular breaks. Please do not feel that you have to stay for the whole visiting period.
Try to space your relative's/friend’s visitors, to give them a break in between visits.
Useful items to bring
You may wish to bring your relative/friend the below items if they do not already have them:
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Medications* from home, toiletries, towels
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Clothes and nightwear
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Suitable slippers or footwear
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Suitable clothes for leaving hospital
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Glasses, hearing aid, wheelchair, sticks, walking frame, dentures, etc
*Please make the nursing staff aware of any tablets and medicines (including inhalers, drops and creams) that you may have brought with you for your relative/friend. You may be asked to bring in any medicines which your relative/friend takes at home.
Dirty laundry will be placed in green bags and needs to be collected regularly and taken home.
The hospital will not take responsibility for personal items. Valuables will need to placed in the hospital safe or taken home.
