Essential visits reinstated at Glasgow hospitals to prevent Covid spread

A health board has reintroduced visiting restrictions at some of its hospitals due to a “spike” in cases in Scotland.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) has more than 650 patients with Covid-19 across two of its hospitals, staff said.

The health board has reinstated “essential visiting” at nightingale wards at Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) and shared accommodation in adult acute wards in the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH).

Essential visits include visiting a person receiving end-of-life care, supporting someone with a mental health issue, or dementia, or a learning disability where a loved one not being present would cause the patient to be distressed, or to accompany a child in hospital.

The changes come into effect from midnight on Wednesday March 16.

The health board said the newly-restricted wards are “open environments” where social distancing between family members, patients and staff, and other mitigations against Covid-19, are more difficult to observe.

In all other adult inpatient wards including shared accommodation on every other site, single rooms, mental health, and community and outpatient clinics, people can have support from one visitor at a time.

Women in maternity wards can have the support of one birth partner and one additional person throughout all outpatient and scan appointments, labour, birth and in inpatient wards.

The exception to this is in wards where there is an active outbreak of Covid-19, the health board said.

In this case, visiting will be temporarily restricted to essential visiting only until the outbreak is resolved.

The temporary move will remain under review from infection prevention and control and restrictions will be eased as soon as appropriate, the health board said.

Jennifer Rodgers, deputy nurse director at NHSGGC, said the current Covid-19 case numbers are having “a huge impact” on ward and bed closures, patients and staff.

She said: “Moving some wards to essential visiting only has been a tough but necessary decision.

“We recognise how difficult this is for our patients and the people that matter most to them and we will keep this under close review so that we can return to person-centred visiting as soon as possible.

“If you plan on visiting a relative at one of the hospitals affected but you are unsure of what visiting guidelines apply, please either call the ward or go to our website where you will find more information.

“We also strongly recommend that you have a negative voluntary lateral flow test a maximum of 24 hours prior to visiting and the closer to your visit, the better.

“We would also remind all visitors that face masks must be worn unless exempt, and social distancing must continue to be observed where possible.”