Friday 17 June 2022

Patients being cared for in East Yorkshire hospitals are set to benefit from extended visiting arrangements. Officials have told Beverley FM the improvements are being made with immediate effect. The number of visitors a patient can receive increases to two and the amount of time they can visit has been extended to 2 hours across the majority of wards and services at Castle Hill Hospital and Hull Royal Infirmary. However, they told us that In order to balance the benefits of visiting with any potential risks of infection, visitors are still required to book in advance to enable nursing staff to safely accommodate increased numbers of people on each ward. Visitors will still be required to wear a face covering. 

Jo Ledger, Acting Chief Nurse for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said that she sympathised with how difficult it can be for people to have a loved one in hospital and either not be able to see them or to have very limited contact with them. The move comes despite further fatalities from Covid-19 and caution from public health officials around the potential for a further surge in cases across East Yorkshire. 

Among the changes taking place with immediate effect are:

• Patients can now receive up to two visitors per day, rather than one
• Patients can receive visitors for up to two hours per day, rather than one, and this can be split into multiple visits
• Visitors can change daily and do not have to be the same two people for the duration of a patient’s stay*
• A broader visiting window running from 11am – 7pm is in place on general wards and 9am – 9pm on antenatal and postnatal wards
• Visitors are welcome to visit during mealtimes to help loved ones with feeding if they wish
• Patients attending outpatient clinics may now be accompanied by one other person
• Patients attending the Emergency Department may also be accompanied by one other person

In light of the continued high levels of demand on emergency care, the Trust has maintained its request for just one parent or guardian to accompany their child in Children’s A&E.

Visitors will continue to be required to wear a face covering while inside hospital premises unless clinically exempt, and the requirement for visitors to regularly wash and sanitise their hands during their time in hospital also remains in place.

Full details of the new visiting rules can be found at www.hey.nhs.uk/visiting

*With the exception of transplant patients

There’s the last chance to enjoy a tour of the popular exhibition on ‘Birds, Books and Belfries’, at the Treasure House in Beverley tomorrow. The exhibition explores the remarkable life and work of Reverend Francis Orpen Morris, wildlife campaigner, writer and vicar of Nafferton and Nunburnholme, who lived from 1810-1893. It centres on his beautiful natural history books. The tour takes place from 10.30am -11am, and will be led by Treasure House curator Sally Hayes. The tours are free, and there is no need to book. You can read more on this story here