Visiting restrictions have been re-imposed for adult wards at Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General Hospitals for an initial period of 2 weeks.
NHS Gloucestershire said was due to rising cases of COVID-19 in the community and an increased number of inpatients with COVID-19.
This means that one person from family, friends, or other supporters can only visit patients for 2 hours each day between 11am and 8pm, having arranged a time with the ward to ensure there are only 2 visitors per bay at a time. This excludes maternity and children’s visiting, for which previous arrangements still stand.
Visiting in special circumstances, including critically unwell patients and those who require additional support, may be accommodated following discussion with the lead nurse on each ward.
Craig Bradley, Associate Chief Nurse and Director of Infection Prevention & Control said: “We know that visiting is an important part of recovery and will monitor and review cases carefully with the aim of lifting these restrictions as soon as possible.
“In the meantime, we ask all visitors to follow our guidelines, including wearing a surgical face mask when visiting, keeping 2 metres away from other people, washing their hands before entering and leaving the building and using the hand sanitiser outside each ward and department. We also ask you to only visit if you are fully vaccinated and take a lateral flow test before visiting.
“Thank you for your patience and for helping us to protect our patients, our staff and other visitors.”