We have put this information together to share the ways that you can stay in contact with your loved one in hospital during the Covid crisis.
Visiting patients
We have guidelines relating to visiting patients, to help keep everyone safe.
For the latest updates please check the Visiting Times page.
Keeping in touch with your loved one
There are a number of different ways to contact your friend/ relative, without visiting:
- If they have a mobile phone, you can ring them. Please let us know if you think it will be difficult for them to use it and we will do our best to help them.
- If you prefer, you can use the JusTalk app so that you can see your loved one through video calling. You will need to download this on your phone or electronic device first. Then ring the ward to let us know when you are going to ring and we can connect you via our iPad. Keep your username handy as the ward may require this so we can add you as a contact.
- You can also email [email protected]. Your email will be printed, put into an envelope and given to the patient. Don’t worry if your loved one may not be well enough to read, just add this to the email and a member of ward staff will be happy to read this out. You can also send up to 3 images.
More information on these initiatives can be found here: Covid-19 updates.
Contacting ward staff
Telephone calls
We will do our best to phone you regularly to keep you updated about what is happening with your relative/friend. Calls will usually be in the afternoons; please let us know if this will be a problem. We won’t routinely ring you at the weekend unless something changes.
It’s really helpful to nominate one member of the family to act as the main contact, which saves repeated conversations. However, we understand that sometimes this won’t be possible – for example if a patient’s partner has dementia, they may wish to ring but it might also be helpful to speak to another member of the family.
Emailing
You may prefer to be updated by email – please let us know if this is the case. This is often useful if the next of kin lives abroad. We are required to let you know there is a small risk that your emails could be hacked, which might result in some private details being accessed by hackers.
Patients with dementia or memory problems
If your family member/friend has dementia or memory problems please take a look at our useful resources. This includes links to the Alzheimer’s Society, a carers support pack, and contact details for support workers.
We encourage you to complete the ‘This is me’ document. This tells us more about the person we are caring for. If you send it to us (by email or by post) we will put this in the nursing notes next to their bedside.