Coming to hospital during the coronavirus pandemic

We are open for business and it's safe for anyone to seek help when needed. Your first port of call should be NHS 111 unless it's a life-changing emergency.

We are adapting so our staff can continue to care for our patients safely while the coronavirus remains a threat to everyone’s health. As of Monday 13 March 2023, you will have to wear a face covering only when visiting clinical settings but in non-clinical settings, including our corridors, restaurant, shops and more, wearing a mask is not required.

Visiting arrangements

We have eased our visiting restrictions at North Mid in a way that ensures that our patients and staff continue to be safe. Currently, visiting is allowed for:

  • Patients who are being cared for on our wards. Visiting times are anytime between 7am - 8pm and each patient on our wards can have up to two visitors.  
  • Parents of children under 18 who are inpatients (two nominated parents/guardians may visit with permission to stay overnight)
  • Parents whose babies are in the neonatal unit
  • Two people can accompany a patient in our adults A&E department
  • Please use the alcohol hand rub upon arrival and leaving the ward / department
  • You may be asked to wear a surgical face mask in order to enter the ward / department (COVID-19 risk is under constant review).  If you are unable to wear a face mask then we will arrange for you to have a virtual visit.

We ask that visitors do not attend if they are unwell with respiratory symptoms or diarrhoea &/or vomiting

If this visiting policy causes you any worry or extreme concern, please contact our Patient Liaison and Advice Service

Children’s services

children's services visiting policy
Paediatric A&E

We operate a one-parent/one-carer policy in our Paediatric Emergency Department waiting area. This is due to the limited size of the waiting area, and the large volume of children that attend our department. 

A second parent / carer / other family member is welcome to enter the department to be present during their child's clinical assessment and for any clinical discussions regarding their child, but will not be allowed to remain in the waiting area. 

Any exceptions to this policy will be at the discretion of the Nurse in Charge'.

Paediatric Day Assessment Unit (PDAU) & Paediatric Assessment Unit

1 nominated parent or guardian over 18yrs may accompany their child

If the child is an inpatient (non COVID) 

One of the two nominated parents or guardians may alternate between themselves with permission to stay overnight and can be with the child at all times.

The parents or guardians will not be able to visit together unless in exceptional circumstances requested by clinical teams.

If the child is an inpatient and has diagnosed or suspected covid-19

1 nominated parent or guardian to stay with the child and will have to self isolate as per government guidelines.

Neo-natal services

 

Parents, siblings, grandparents and named family support can visit at anytime 

If anyone else would like to visit, please speak with the nurse in charge

Exceptional circumstances

There are times when visitors may need to attend outside of the normal visiting arrangements, therefore, please speak to the nurse in charge and we will try to support this request as much as possible.

Having a baby at North Mid

Our visiting and accompaniment arrangements for our maternity unit:

  • For all antenatal clinic and ultrasound appointments, 1 nominated adult can accompany you
  • If you are in labour, 2 nominated adults can come with you 
  • If you are having a planned caesarean section (C-section), 1 nominated adult can come with you.
  • If you are booked for an induction of labour, 1 nominated adult can stay with you.
  • After you give birth, 1 nominated birth partner can be with you on the postnatal ward during the 4 hour period allocated each day.
  • If the child is in neo-natal intensive care, we do not have residential facility for parents but invite parents to visit their baby anytime on the unit as per their convenience. In addition to this, we have three parent bedrooms available for parents to stay overnight in preparation for discharge or support.

Partners will need to wear a surgical mask to visit. We will give you a suitable mask at the entrance to the maternity unit. For safety, we continue to socially distance within the maternity department, so please do not bring other children to appointments. For visitors of those having a baby, please use the maternity entrance, located just off Sterling Way. 

Virtual visiting

We have returned to normal visiting arrangements but we can still offer a virtual appointment if you are unable to attend:

If you are a relative of a patient and want more information, please call 020 8887 3172 or email our PALS team on northmid.pals@nhs.net.  

Visiting arrangements are under continual review at the Ethics Committee and by the executive team and may change at very short notice. 

Please check back to this section of our website regularly for latest information and guidance.

Animations help families understand common Covid-19 treatments

Animations help families understand common Covid-19 treatments

A series of short films created by cardiologist Professor David Wald are helping families to understand how their loved ones are treated for Covid-19 in intensive care.

The animations, which are available through the award winning Explain my Procedure website, reveal, in simple terms, what goes on in an intensive care unit or ICU, from the role of staff to common treatments such as mechanical ventilation and a tracheostomy.

The films are just a few minutes long and have been translated from English into a number of common languages, including Turkish, Polish, Hindi and Bengali.

Explainmyprocedure.com features short animations on a range of medical interventions such as cardiology, orthopaedic and general surgery.

It has shown to substantially improve understanding among patients, before they consent to medical and surgical procedures.

The website won the HSJ Award for Digitising Patient Services in 2019 and the BMJ Award for Digital Innovation Team of the Year in 2020.

The latest project demystifying the intensive care unit is supported by the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine and endorsed by the Intensive Care Society.

Visit www.explainmyprocedure.com/icu

Stay in touch with a friend or relative who is a patient

We know how important it is for families to stay in touch with relatives who are patients in our wards.

Because we have had to restrict visitors to reduce infection risks, we have added new ways to keep in contact:

  • send a message to your loved one and we will pass it on in a handmade card
Send a message to your loved one
  • use our donated phones and tablets to Skype or FaceTime your relative - contact our PALS team to arrange on 020 8887 3172 or northmid.pals@nhs.net
  • we can provide a phone for your relative to call you - ask our PALS team to help.

Dropping off items and food to our patients

Items 

Please drop off any items for your loved one at the main entrance of the hospital. You will be asked to complete a short form so that arrangements can be made for it to be dropped to your loved one. 

Food

While we provide a wide variety of food for patients, you are welcome to drop off food to your relatives.

Please drop this off at the main entrance of the hospital and arrangements will be made for it to be dropped to your loved one. 

Please note that we are unable to heat food that is delivered.

Wearing a face mask at the hospital

As of Monday 13 March 2023, wearing a face mask is only required in clinical settings. This means that in non-clinical settings, like our corridors, restaurant, shops, wearing a face mask is not required and is personal choice.

This guidance will remain under constant review and if you've got any questions, feel free to ask staff at the main reception.

For some people, wearing a face mask may be difficult due to physical or mental health conditions. In these instances, other measures will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

If you are deaf or hearing impaired, our staff have a range of communication options to ensure that they can communicate effectively with you. This might include visual aids such as writing things down, speech-to-text apps and sign language. 

Download the NHS Test and Trace App

The NHS Covid-19 test and trace app aims to alert people when they have been near someone who has tested positive for coronavirus, allow people to check their symptoms, and ‘check-in’ to places they visit using a QR code system.

How does the app work?

The NHS Covid-19 test and trace app can alert people about their exposure to people infected with Covid-19 faster than human contact tracers.

It uses Bluetooth to identify phones nearby, and can tell what distance other people are from you.

If you come into close proximity to someone who has had coronavirus symptoms, and has logged these symptoms into their app, you will receive an alert notification letting you know to self-isolate. The same applies if you have been in a pub, restaurant, or other kind of hospitality venue at the same time as someone who has the symptoms.

Check in via QR code

You can ‘check in’ to venues on entry by scanning a QR code.

We have placed QR codes around the hospital for you to check in via the NHS Test and Trace App.

You will then receive an alert if someone who was in the venue at the same time as you logs symptoms.

How do I download the app?

The app will be available to download on the Apple Store and Google Play straight onto your smartphone.

Download via the Apple App Store

Download via Google Play

Are you having a baby?

See our maternity page to see how our services are affected during the pandemic.

Protecting our staff to help keep you safe

We have introduced a number of measures to help protect our staff while they continue to care for our local community. This includes: 

  • Wearing surgical masks at work
  • Providing non-surgical masks for staff when they are travelling to and from work
  • Providing uniform wash bags so staff can store, transport and wash their uniforms once home from a busy shift, without the worry of cross-contamination
  • Temperature checking all staff when they enter any building on hospital grounds
  • Providing testing to assess if staff have had Covid-19 and if they have the virus
  • Introduced socially distanced seating in our restaurant and reception areas
  • Increased cleaning and sanitising of facilities
  • Wherever possible we have increased ventilation of rooms
  • Installed perspex screens in the majority of our waiting areas
  • Significantly reduced face to face meetings

On top of this we have worked with other London Trusts, our Trade Unions and our staff led equality networks to develop an assessment tool for the risk of adverse or serious reactions to Covid-19. We have offered this risk assessment to all of our staff. We want to support and protect all our staff; particularly those staff groups that have been identified at a national level as disproportionally affected by the pandemic. This includes members of staff who are over 60, pregnant, have long term health conditions and are Black, Asian and minority ethnic.