Visiting is welcome on our wards during our visiting times (usually between 10am and 8pm for an adult ward) and our patients look forward to seeing their loved ones during their stay with us.
Please read before you visit us
We regularly review our visiting arrangements to keep everyone safe. Our patients can be more vulnerable to infection, their safety, and that of our staff, is our priority.
Carers with carers passports are supported to be there for those they care for.
Please do the following when visiting:
- follow our visiting guidelines on the ward
- be respectful to our staff and other patients on the ward
- have no more than two adults at a time at the bedside (for general adult wards)
- talk to the nurse in charge if you have any questions about visiting
Do not visit if you have:
- flu-like symptoms
- an upset stomach/diarrhoea
- COVID symptoms or a positive test
- have been in contact with, or isolating with, someone else who may have coronavirus
- returned from overseas and are required to quarantine for any reason.
Read more about preventing infection in our hospitals.
If you can’t visit your loved one face-to-face then we can help you to have a virtual visit.
Adult wards
Visiting times
Visiting on our inpatient wards is usually between 10am and 8pm every day.
Some wards may have other times in place so please check with them.
If you’d like to visit outside of our visiting times please talk to the ward manager before you visit. Please note that patients receiving end of life care and their loved ones will always have a compassionate approach to visiting.
Visiting information
Please note:
- Up to two adults can visit a patient at one time but this doesn’t need to be the same two people throughout the day.
- We ask that you please don’t bring children on to our adult wards.
- We’ll always try our best to let you spend as long as possible with your loved one but you may be asked to leave the ward so we can provide the best care and safety for our patients.
Children’s wards
One parent or carer can be with their child at all times on the children’s wards. For further details on visitors to our children’s ward, please visit our children’s services.
Neonatal wards
We do not consider parents as visitors. Parents are an integral part in their baby’s care and within the neonatal team. Please visit our neonatal ward pages for full details on visiting us.
Maternity
Visit our maternity visitors page for the latest information on visiting times to our wards .
More information on maternity is in our maternity section.
Supporting visiting at end of life
When a patient is ill enough that they could die within the next few days, it can be difficult to say exactly when that will be. Please know that if you’re not there when your loved one dies, we will do our best to comfort them. We’ll always act compassionately for loved ones to spend precious time and to say goodbye.
We’ll always act compassionately for loved ones to spend precious time and to say goodbye. For end of life patients up to four visitors per day is allowed. The ward will arrange this with you. If any visitors have suspected coronavirus then the ward manager will talk with you to do all we can to enable visiting.
Our chaplains are available to help for spiritual, emotional or religious support during this time.
Other ways to stay in touch
As well as in person visiting we also encourage patients and visitors to use digital services such as Facetime, Skype, Zoom and WhatsApp to stay in touch with loved ones during their hospital stay.
Our hospitals have some iPads and mobile phones that patients can use to keep in touch with loved ones remotely.