New visiting arrangements at Gloucester Royal and Cheltenham General by | Gloucester News Centre - http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk/New visiting arrangements have been introduced at Cheltenham General Hospital and Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
From today, visiting hours for adult wards changing from 11am to 8pm, 7 days a week.
- Only 1 visitor may visit a patient at a time, but 2 visitors may be permitted on request if space allows and with prior permission of the nurse-in-charge
- Whilst not mandatory, we ask that you only visit a patient at our hospitals if you are fully vaccinated to protect yourself, our vulnerable patients and our staff
- Masks must be worn at all times during the visit, those with an exemption are encouraged to speak to the nurse-in-charge before visiting for further information
- We ask all visitors to wash their hands before entering and leaving the building and to use the hand sanitiser outside each ward and department
- There is no time limit on visits within the hours detailed above
- There is no longer a requirement to book a visit
Craig Bradley, Associate Chief Nurse and Director of Infection Prevention & Control at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are really pleased to be able to open up visiting for our patients as we know that limited visiting has been difficult for families, friends and loved ones.
“The relaxation of our visiting restrictions is based on evidence; inpatient COVID-19 cases have remained consistent and there is very limited evidence of visitors causing onward transmission. Although case rates in Gloucestershire fluctuate among certain populations, especially those who are unvaccinated, the vast majority of our patients and visitors are vaccinated.
“Critically, vaccination amongst people in Gloucestershire is very high with more than 495,000 first doses administered. To further protect our patients and staff, we do ask that visitors are fully vaccinated as there is increasing evidence that the COVID vaccine offers protection against asymptomatic infection as well as onward transmission of the virus. This is not mandatory, but we do please ask visitors to consider patients who may be more vulnerable to infections including COVID-19.”