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Information for visitors

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Visiting Bradford Teaching Hospitals

We are seeing a significant increase in pressure on our services. The Trust is doing everything possible to keep patients and visitors safe. We have reviewed our visiting guidelines and have made the decision to keep the following restrictions in place:

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

Labour Ward and Birth Centre
Birth partners can stay for the duration of labour. This person is not interchangeable. M3 and M4 patients can make one-hour visits at a pre-arranged times between 1-5pm, except on the day of discharge, from one dedicated person, the birth partner.

Prenatal scans
Women will be allowed to have one adult with them for the first dating ultrasound at around 12 weeks. This person must be the birthing partner or from the same household or bubble.

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

The Trust will continue to support end-of-life visits, difficult conversation support, and support 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 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 10:15am 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 where there is no visiting

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 8:30am and 4pm, 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 or cold food and you should avoid sending any perishables. 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.

Keeping in touch with loved-ones

In the short films below we explain more about the measures we’ve introduced at Bradford Teaching Hospitals to help you keep in touch and be there for your loved-ones during this difficult time.

The films are available in English, Urdu, Polish, Pahari/Punjabi and Czech/Slovak.

We’ve also recorded a digital audio file in Pahari for blind and partially-sighted people on the ways you can keep in touch with loved-ones in our hospitals.

English

English

BSL

English

Coronavirus: national guidance on attending our hospitals

If you have symptoms of coronavirus, do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. You do not need to contact NHS 111 to tell them you’re staying at home. Read the advice about staying at home

For urgent advice: use the NHS 111 online coronavirus service: www.111.nhs.uk/covid-19 if: 

  • you feel you cannot cope with your symptoms at home
  • your condition gets worse
  • your symptoms do not get better after 7 days

Only call 111 if you cannot get help online.

Patients should attend their appointments as usual, unless we contact you direct or you have a cough and/or high temperature.

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.

Wash your hands frequently

You should wash your hands for 20 seconds, using soap and water.

Make sure you are washing your hands effectively by watching this video: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/best-way-to-wash-your-hands/

Face masks

Visitors to Bradford Teaching Hospitals under exceptional circumstances and people attending outpatients’ appointments must wear a face mask at all times to protect them and others from coronavirus from Monday, 15 June. The new legislation applies to all our hospitals – BRI, St Luke’s, Westbourne Green and Westwood Park. It is important masks and face coverings are worn safely. For more information, please watch the video (English language and Urdu versions) below.

Learning disabilities and PPE

Our Lead Nurse for Learning Disabilities, Caroline Carass, and Ruth Foster, Bradford District Care Trust’s Learning Disabilities Community Matron have produced this video about the personal protective equipment (PPE) staff wear on our wards.

Contact details

Bradford Royal Infirmary

Smith Lane
Bradford
BD9 6DA

Switchboard: 01274 542200

For appointments: Centralised Patient Booking Service

St Luke's Hospital

Little Horton Lane
Bradford
BD5 0NA

Switchboard: 01274 734744

Eccleshill Community Hospital

450 Harrogate Road
Eccleshill
Bradford
West Yorkshire
BD10 oJE

Switchboard: 01274 323200

Shipley Hospital

98 Kirkgate
Shipley
West Yorkshire
BD18 3LT

Switchboard: 01274 773390

Westwood Park Community Hospital

Swift Drive
Off Cooper Lane
Bradford
West Yorkshire
BD6 3NL

Switchboard: 01274 425990

Westbourne Green Community Hospital

26 Heaton Road
Bradford
West Yorkshire
BD8 8RA

Switchboard: 01274 322093

Coronavirus: change to visiting rules

Our staff fully understand that you have been unable to visit loved-ones in our hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic.

There has been some easing of England’s lockdown rules, but you need to rest assured that there has been no relaxation in the care we provide to all our patients.

Most visiting remains suspended. Exceptions are for those receiving end-of-life care, one adult may visit a child, and one birthing partner can accompany women in labour.

We have set up a new telephone information line for relatives concerned about inpatients. Please call 01274 272747, from 10:15am to 5:30pm (including bank holidays). Click here for more information on the relatives’ telephone information line.

Please watch the short film below (available in English and Urdu) for more information on visiting. Further details on exceptional visiting circumstances can be found here.

End-of-life visiting

Following new Government recommendations, we have reinstated visiting for all end-of-life patients at Bradford Teaching Hospitals. In the short film below Chief Nurse, Karen Dawber, and Kez Hayat, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, explain more in both English and Urdu.

Contacting a patient

When ringing about a patient, please give the number of the ward they are on. It’s also helpful if only one person telephones with an enquiry, as this saves time and helps ensure nursing and ward staff are not running back and forth answering the phone. We do not have enough telephone lines for patients to take incoming calls, but we can take a message and ask a patient to call you back if they are able to do so.

Except in emergencies, please try to phone after 10am wherever possible. We cannot give medical information over the telephone.

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