Visitors can return to hospital’s wards

The Royal United Hospital in Bath has reinstated patient visits for the first time in months as the pressures caused by coronavirus ease.

Limited visiting returned on Monday for the first time since November.

Most visiting was suspended in line with government advice to help protect patients and staff and to slow the spread of the virus.

But with the number of Covid cases at the hospital reducing and in line with updated NHS guidance, new visiting arrangements have been introduced.

Cara Charles-barks, the hospital’s chief executive, pictured, said: “This is excellent news and will come as a welcome relief to patients and their families.

“The health, safety and wellbeing of our patients, communities, individuals and teams remain our absolute priority, and we are really pleased to be able to relax our regulations in a managed and responsible way.”

Visitors will also be allowed to see someone who has suspected or confirmed coronavirus but extra personal protective equipment (PPE) may be required.

In most cases, each patient will be able to have one visitor a day for a maximum of one hour and they will be limited to one close family contact or someone important to the patient.

Those visitors will be expected to provide their name and contact details for NHS Test and Trace purposes and trips to see loved ones must be booked at least a day in advance with ward staff to avoid overcrowding.

All visitors must wear a face mask or covering at all times and will be expected to follow social distancing and infection prevention and control measures.

Exceptions to the general onevisitor-only rule include the children’s ward and neonatal intensive care unit, vulnerable adults and patients nearing the end of life.

The new arrangements are similar to those being introduced at the trust’s neighbouring hospitals in Swindon and Salisbury.

Ms Charles-barks added: “We understand how difficult it has been for many people to have been unable to visit, or restricted in visiting, their loved ones and friends over the past four months.

“It was important then to help to keep our patients and staff safe – and it’s important now that we keep these new visiting arrangements under review as we all start, hopefully, to return to some sort of normality of life.”

More details about visiting can be found on the RUH website.

This is excellent news and will come as a welcome relief to patients and their families

Cara Charles-barks