Hospital visiting restrictions eased after fall in Covid infections
Visiting restrictions are to be eased at Hull’s hospitals next week as the number of people infected with Covid-19 continues to fall.
Hull University Teaching Hospitals (HUTH) NHS Trust is easing restrictions to allow one family member or friend to visit a patient in most parts of Hull Royal Infirmary or Castle Hill Hospital.
Visiting slots of up to one hour must be booked in advance with the ward sister or charge nurse, and the visitor must be the same person for the duration of the patient’s stay in hospital.
The named visitor must also carry out a lateral flow test to prevent people with the virus coming to hospital and spreading the potentially deadly virus to already sick and injured patients.
Chief Nurse Beverley Geary said the new visiting arrangements will come into force from Monday, February 21.
Mrs Geary said: “Our visiting policy has been kept under constant review because we know how hard it is for families not to see their loved ones while they’re in hospital.
“We’re now seeing fewer people admitted to our hospitals with the virus, and the community infection rates in Hull and the East Riding are falling so we feel it is safer to allow visiting once again.”
‘WE KNOW HOW HARD IT’S BEEN’: Chief Nurse Beverley Geary
Visiting arrangements for children’s wards, Intensive Care Units and maternity services remain unchanged and people attending the trust’s Emergency Department must come on their own.
Patients with suspected or confirmed Covid-19 cannot have visitors unless in exceptional circumstances.
Restrictions remain for oncology wards in the Queen’s Centre and in some surgical wards because these patients are at much higher risk of becoming gravely ill if they catch Covid. People are being urged to check arrangements with ward staff before attempting to visit.
Anyone coming to hospital for any reason must also wear a face masks as soon as they enter any hospital building, although the requirement to wear a face mask on hospital grounds has been lifted.
Nobody can enter a hospital building unless they are wearing a mask, even if they have a medical exemption, to ensure the protection of our patients and staff.
All visitors should wash their hands thoroughly when they walk into a ward, use hand sanitizer when they leave their relative’s bedside, and wash their hands for at least 20 seconds as they leave the ward.
People should also follow the two-metre social distancing rule on hospital grounds and buildings.
Despite the new arrangements, people should not visit any part of Hull Royal Infirmary or Castle Hill Hospital, including wards, diagnostic areas, clinics or outpatient departments, if they are showing any symptoms of Covid-19 or are unwell for any other reason, the trust said.