“The Hospital is very busy at the moment, both in terms of patients needing acute support, an increase in covid-19 cases and staffing challenges linked to covid-19-related absences,” he said.
New restrictions include only one visitor per patient each day. The visitor must be free of covid symptoms and have a negative lateral flow test result before going to the Hospital.
Pictured: Attendees at the Emergency Department can take only one carer or parent.
Women on Loveridge Ward are now allowed only one birth partner. A child admitted to the Hospital can be accompanied by two main caregivers.
Patients attending the Emergency Department should be accompanied by a carer or parent only and, where possible, should take a lateral flow test before attending.
“We’re introducing these measures for visitors to try and reduce the potential spread of the virus throughout the hospital,” said Dr Rabey.
“We will keep this under regular review and remove these measures as soon as possible. We thank the community in advance for their support.
“We’ve also had to postpone some elective surgery this week, which I know can be distressing for people who have prepared for their surgery only to have it postponed. It’s an awful situation for them and I apologise to those affected.”
Pictured: Princess Elizabeth Hospital Director, Dr Peter Rabey.
There are currently nine patients in Hospital with covid-19 and “very few spare beds” in the Intensive Care Unit and Higher Dependency Unit.
A rise in covid-19 cases within nursing and residential homes has caused a knock-on effect on the Hospital’s ability to transfer some patients.
The community teams are also facing challenges and request that anyone requiring their support contact Community Services if they become symptomatic or positive for covid-19.