Hospitals in Northumberland and North Tyneside have announced they are lifting many visiting restrictions and expanding the number of bookable slots - but NHS bosses have warned " Covid has not gone away".
From today (Monday), the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust has confirmed there will be hourly visiting slots for patients on general adult wards between 10am and 7pm each day, and that each patient will now be allowed to have two nominated visitors.
However, visiting will remain restricted on surgical wards as part of "enhanced infection prevention measures". Visitors will no longer need to present evidence of a negative Covid lateral flow test, but anyone with any symptoms of the virus or a close household contact who has it is told not to come to the hospitals.
Anyone entering the hospitals will still be required to wear the required PPE as directed by staff, and to wear a mask and wash their hands regularly. This applies to hospitals including NSECH in Cramlington, along with the Trust's district and community hospitals around the North East.
Marion Dickson, Northumbria Healthcare’s executive director for nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals, said: "We know that people are looking ahead and hoping to move forward as society opens up after an extremely difficult time for us all, but it is worth remembering that Covid-19 has not gone away and that hospitals contain some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.
"For that reason, we cannot get rid of all of the restrictions we have introduced in the past two years immediately. Having said that, we have always recognised the importance to patients of being able to have contact with their loved ones and have committed to keeping under review any restrictions we have imposed.
“That is why we are announcing this further easing of the rules around visiting, enabling more people to see their loved ones in hospital, while maintaining enough control to ensure that we protect all of our patients and our staff."
According to the latest Government figures, the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust is currently treating 70 Covid positive patients.
