Visitors to Ipswich and Colchester hospitals reminded of the rules
The Trust is reminding patients that visiting is still restricted at the moment
People visiting hospitals in East Suffolk and North Essex are being reminded of the Covid-19 visiting restrictions.
The Chief Nurse of the NHS Trust, which runs Ipswich and Colchester Hospitals amongst others, is calling for the public's help to keep visiting running safely.
Restrictions are still in place across the Trust to try and prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The rules are:
Patients may have one visitor to their ward for one hour a day after they have been in hospital for 24 hours.
This visit must be pre-booked with ward teams in advance and visits can only be supported in the ward environment.
We must also ask that patients and their loved ones do not arrange to meet in groups in our hospital coffee shops and restaurants.
Chief Nurse and Director of Infection Prevention and Control Giles Thorpe said: "The plea from me and our ward teams is to please stick to the rules and for just one person to visit their loved one on the ward where they are being cared for.
“While a patient is on a ward, we can safely monitor their condition and manage the risk of infections being brought into a ward environment by limiting the number of visitors they have and overall footfall to the ward.
"If patients are out and about, it makes that job much more difficult. Please remember that, and all the people we’re caring for, when coming to our hospitals.”
ESNEFT says unplanned outdoor visits to see patients through windows or doors cannot be supported either.
Giles added: “We know how much patients and their loved ones value visiting and we understand that the ongoing restrictions are difficult. That’s why we were keen to reintroduce some visiting as safely and as quickly as possible following the recent Trust wide suspension, but we now need everyone’s help to keep visiting open.
“Our visiting policy is under constant review. If we start to see another rise in COVID-19 hospital admissions, we will have no choice but to suspend visiting again, which we do not want to do, but we all have our part to play in preventing the spread of the virus in our hospitals so we can keep visiting going.
“COVID-19 is still a very real public health concern, and our priority, as always, is to keep all our patients, visitors and staff safe in our hospitals.”