Patients at Paisley's Royal Alexandra Hospital can now benefit from one visitor at a time following the easing of covid restrictions.
From 8am tomorrow, inpatients at the Corsebar Road site will be able to benefit from the support of one visitor at a time in most circumstances.
The visitor is allowed to change each visit.
In wards where a Covid-19 outbreak is being managed, essential visiting may be reintroduced on a temporary basis to help protect staff, patients and visitors until the situation can be resolved.
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Patients where there is a particularly high risk of infection will continue to have visiting arrangements discussed as part of individual risk assessments, as happens now.
This easing of visiting restrictions follows a decrease in the prevalence of COVID-19 in the community and is in line with a national easing of restrictions as outlined by the Scottish Government.
Visitors planning on making a trip to hospital to visit an inpatient are reminded that people in hospital are particularly vulnerable to the effects of infection. Therefore the following safety measures remain in place:
- Contact the ward in advance to discuss the local arrangements.
- Please consider the additional potential risk visiting may bring to patients, family members and staff, when deciding whether to visit.
- Before you visit please undertake a Lateral Flow Test to help ensure you do not have COVID-19. You can order these on the Scottish Government’s website or by phoning 119.
- Unless exempt, you are strongly recommended to wear a face mask throughout your visit.
- Please use hand gel on arrival, departure and when you come into contact with surfaces during your visit.
- Remember that physical distancing remains in place.
- Do not visit if you have symptoms of COVID-19, or if you are isolating due to contact with a person with Covid-19 unless in specific and limited situations such as end of life care.
Jennifer Rodgers, deputy nurse director at NHSGGC, said: “We know how important it is for people in hospital to have support from the people who matter most to them.
"The move to restrict visiting was only ever temporary and in light of the reducing impact of Covid-19 in the community and on our hospitals, we’ve worked as quickly as possible to welcome increased support and presence from family members in our hospitals.
“We are delighted to welcome visitors back to all our hospital wards. While the news is welcomed, we would ask visitors to remain cautious and follow all the safety measures and guidance described above and on the NHSGGC website under the visiting pages.”
Angela Wallace, executive nurse director at NHSGGC, added: “We would like to thank our patients and the public for their patience and understanding during this difficult and challenging time. We continue to monitor the situation and where it’s safe and appropriate to do so, we will look to further ease visiting restrictions as we work towards moving back to full person centred visiting.”
Full details of the changes to visiting can be found here: https://www.nhsggc.scot/your-health/covid-19/patients-hospital-appointments-and-visiting/
