Visiting Bradford Teaching Hospitals

We are doing everything possible to keep our patients and visitors safe. We have reviewed our visiting rules in light of the staged easing of the national lockdown, and the following restrictions are now in place:

Visiting  for inpatients in our hospitals for over 14 days will commence from March 29, 2021 on GREEN wards.

All other patients: we will only allow visits under the following exceptional circumstances:

Paediatric wards
Two parents or carers can swap in and out for visits/stays once every 24 hours.

Labour Ward and Birth Centre
A birth partner can stay for the duration of labour. This person is not interchangeable.

M3 patients and M4 patients can have one-hour visits at a pre-arranged time between 1-5pm (except on the day of discharge) from one dedicated person, the birth partner.

M4 patients who have been in hospital for more than three days can have two-hour visits at pre-arranged times (except on the day of discharge) from either one dedicated person (the birth partner) or one nominated person aged over 16.

Prenatal scans
Women are allowed to have one adult with them at all scans. This person should be the birthing partner or from the same household or bubble.

AED department supportive visits
One visitor will be allowed to be present where the patient is being treated in the resuscitation area or the High Dependency Unit section of the Accident and Emergency department.

End-of-life supportive visits
Previously, if the patient was nearing the end of life, we allowed one-to-two visitors only. However, if the patient has children aged 16 or over, they may also visit, providing there are no more than two visitors at any one time.

BTHFT will continue to  support difficult conversations and allow carers to attend where the patient needs physical or cognitive support –  with restrictions in place on the length of visit and the number of visitors allowed.

The Trust has put in place a number of resources to support family members/visitors unable to visit patients: 

  • Our Relatives’ Telephone Information Line takes calls for some of our wards. Please contact the ward or relatives’ line to see if the clinical area in question is using this service. Please call 01274 272747 from 8:15am to 5:30pm
  • Thinking of you is a dedicated email address for loved ones to send letters via email to our patients: ThinkingOfYou@bthft.nhs.uk
  • Many wards have video calling in place and may be able to assist with video calls when there is no visiting
  • We have a dedicated patient property team work who can accept and take belongings to inpatients from 7:30am to 6:30pm. Please see below for more information. Please do not bring in too much and hot, fresh or perishable foodstuffs are not permitted.

Last edited 23/03/2021

Please note: Visitors to Bradford Teaching Hospitals under exceptional circumstances and people attending outpatients’ appointments must now wear a face mask at all times to protect them and others from coronavirus. It is important masks and face coverings are worn safely.

Anyone showing any symptoms of coronavirus should not visit. If you are in a high risk category i.e. you have an underlying health condition that puts you at risk of COVID-19, you should also not visit. For more information on our current visiting policy, please click here.

Patient property drop-offs

Bradford currently has a “no-visiting” policy in place.

Due to national lockdown restrictions the Trust has also made the decision to stop accepting food for patients to help minimise the number of drop-offs at our hospitals. We will now only accept essential items in line with Government guidance and travel restrictions.

Property for Bradford Royal Infirmary patients can be dropped off at the Duckworth Lane entrance between 8am and 6:30pm, seven days a week. If you need to drop off an item outside these hours, you must first gain permission from the clinical area in question, as items will have to be collected by a member of staff.

Please only send essential items and keep property to a minimum. This helps us keep our areas clutter-free and makes them easier to clean, helping to keep infection rates down.

Due to increased demand we can no longer accept hot, fresh or perishable food. The items we recommend you bring if required are:

  • Night and day clothes
  • Sensible footwear
  • Toiletries
  • Books/jigsaw puzzles, if appropriate
  • If you wish to bring in snacks please keep them to a minimum. Snack-food should have a long shelf life and require no preparation, such as biscuits

If your relative has a mobile phone or tablet computer and did not bring it to hospital then you may wish to bring one in along with a charger. * The Trust cannot be held responsible for valuables which are brought onto Trust sites at your own risk.

St Luke’s Hospital and community hospitals: please contact the ward before bringing in any items.

Thank you.

Latest figures: Covid-19 patients in our hospitals

  • Total number tested positive to date – 3,781
  • Total number tested negative to date – 62,046
  • Confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients currently inpatient Trust-wide – 38
  • Confirmed COVID-19 patients discharged (to date) to their usual place of residence or no longer being treated as COVID-19 – 2,766
  • Confirmed COVID-19 patients currently in ICU – 5
  • Total COVID-19 deaths to date – 663

Coronavirus tests

If you are a member of the public
To find out more on how to ask for a test please see the Government advice here.

If you are a member of staff
You can book a test by contacting the HR Helpdesk on 01274 366227. You must be in the first three days of the onset of your COVID-19 symptoms at the time the swab is taken.

Coronavirus vaccine FAQs

For the latest information on coronavirus vaccines, please click here.

For the latest info on the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, please click here.

Patients and Covid-19 swab tests

We have also introduced Covid-19 swab tests for some patients. All patients will be informed by letter or phone whether they need a COVID-19 swab test when their hospital appointments are arranged.

For more information on what happens at our drive-through swabbing unit, which is located at St Luke’s Hospital, please watch the short video below.

Outpatients

Outpatients should attend their appointments as usual, unless we contact you directly or you have a cough and/or high temperature, and/or loss of taste/smell.

Due to operational pressures, we may have to reschedule some planned operations to allow staff to focus on those who need urgent care. Some outpatient appointments may also change from face-to-face appointments to telephone consultations to avoid patients coming into hospital.

If you are affected by these changes we will contact you by phone or text. Unless you hear from us, please attend your appointment. We are taking all necessary steps to try to keep any disruption for patients to an absolute minimum.

The NHS in Bradford and Public Health England (PHE) are extremely well prepared for outbreaks of new infectious diseases. The latest health information about Coronavirus (COVID-19) can be found on the NHS website.

How to recognise if your child is seriously ill

For more information, please watch the short video below presented by Consultant Paediatrician Mat Mathai, and download our information leaflet, which is designed to help you monitor your child’s condition if they have a raised temperature. Both also provide guidance on when to ask for help and describing symptoms.

Visiting an inpatient at Bradford Teaching Hospitals

In order to protect our patients and staff, most visiting has been suspended at all Bradford Teaching Hospitals’ sites.

Hospital bosses have taken the step as a responsible and proactive measure as part of coronavirus (COVID-19) preparedness. The policy will apply to both the Trust’s sites at Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke’s Hospital.

We will do our best to help anyone who wishes to communicate via an alternative method such as using their mobile phone/Facetime via the free hospital WiFi.

However, special allowances will be made for parents or carers visiting our paediatric wards, the Labour Ward and Birth Centre, prenatal scans, Accident and Emergency supportive visits, relatives collecting patients on discharge, all patients receiving end-of-life care, and inpatients who have been in our hospitals for over 14 days. Please see full details above.

We will continue to review these restrictions regularly or as national guidance changes.

In the short film below Chief Nurse, Karen Dawber, and Kez Hayat, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, explain more in both English and Urdu. More information on end-of-life visiting can also be found here. 

Keeping in touch with loved-ones

Hand washing

The most effective way to avoid catching or spreading the virus is to wash hands often with soap and water. Hand sanitising gel should be used if soap and water are not available.

You should wash your hands for 20 seconds, using soap and water. Make sure you are washing your hands effectively by watching this NHS video.