Queen’s and King George Hospitals ban nearly all visitors

Queen’s Hospital in Romford

The trust which runs Queen’s and King George Hospitals has suspended visits, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Barking, Havering, and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust (BHRUT) says the measure has been taken to protect patients and staff and will be in place from 9am tomorrow until further notice.

The only exceptions when people other than patients and staff will be permitted to the hospitals are when the patient is receiving end-of-life care, parents or appropriate adults visiting their children, or partners accompanying women during labour.

In a statement, BHRUT said: “We are seeing an increase in the number of seriously ill patients (who have tested positive for Covid-19) at our hospitals. This number will increase in the days and weeks ahead.

“We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, however we must prioritise our resources to help those who are most in need.

“Our top priority while dealing with the coronavirus is to protect our patients and the staff caring for them. To this end we have introduced new visitor restrictions, in line with guidance from NHS England.”

The trust says ward managers will ensure all patients have a named relative and allocate a time for people to call to keep in touch on a daily basis.

BHRUT’s statement continued: “These measures will help us to protect our patients, including those with Covid-19, and those with other conditions. We will keep these changes under review and they will remain in place until further notice.

“Please do respect our staff who are working hard to keep our patients safe and our services running at this time.

“Please remember not to come to our hospital if you have a cough, cold, flu-like symptoms or any infectious illness like diarrhoea and vomiting.”