Sussex hospital staff facing abuse over visitor policy
Covid cases have risen 50% in the county in a week
Hospital staff in Sussex are being faced with threatening and unpleasant abuse from visitors frustrated by coronavirus visiting rules.
The University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UH Sussex) is calling on local people to follow its one patient, one visitor policy following a 50% rise in Covid cases across the county.
The trust says it's had to deal with visitors who refuse to wear masks and arrive unannounced in pairs or groups of three at sites such as St Richard's Hospital in Chichester.
The policy was brought in in response to the pandemic and allows one visitor per patient for one hour a day, which must be pre-booked.
Dr Maggie Davies, Chief Nurse at UH Sussex, said:
"With our population we have a lot of elderly and frail patients perhaps even more so in the winter, so winter can be challenging and we're expecting this year an upturn in respiratory illnesses generally, and Covid would be one of those illnesses that we would be concerned about.
"It's disappointing for family members if they travel in two or three or a small group to see a loved one, we unfortunately have to disappoint families by asking them not to visit on the wards. Obviously that's difficult for our staff to manage they've got busy wards to manage.
"I'd ask our community to remember that our staff also have their own loved ones. So we're asking our staff to be well looked after by members of the public in the same way that visitors would want their family members to be looked after."
The policy, which has been place for several months as a response to the pandemic, allows for one visitor per patient for one hour a day, which must be pre-booked.
There are exceptions for maternity and neonatal wards, when visiting children or for visiting patients receiving end of life care.