Limited visiting for patients in West Suffolk for Christmas Day

The NHS Trust is allowing some limited visiting for Christmas and Boxing Day

Author: Abi SimpsonPublished 24th Dec 2021

Patients in West Suffolk will be able to have a visitor on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

The NHS Trust has confirmed it will be allowing some limited visiting this weekend.

Each patient will be allowed one visitor per day for one hour - and it must be the same person both days.

The visits must be pre-booked by phoning ahead to the ward and lateral flow tests have to be taken before going in.

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust chief nurse Sue Wilkinson said: "We have not taken this decision lightly, as we know how much patients and relatives value visiting.

"Our priority, however, has to be keeping those vulnerable patients in our care as safe as possible, and with the high levels of COVID-19 cases in the county currently that means reducing the number of people coming into our hospitals.

"Relatives can use our dedicated helpline and video calling services to keep in touch with loved ones while they are in our care."

From the 27th the Trust says it will revert back to a no visiting policy due to the ongoing threat of the Omicron variant and Covid-19.

The only exceptions will be for maternity; parents of child inpatients; end-of-life patients and those with a learning disability, dementia, or other mental health needs.

First for all the latest news from across the UK every hour on Hits Radio on DAB, at hitsradio.co.uk and on the Rayo app.