VISITING is being restricted at the trust which runs Basingstoke hospital as staff cope with a rise in the number of Covid cases.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT), which also runs Andover and Winchester hospitals, has said that visiting is currently limited across its three sites for the next two weeks.

The trust has said that visiting would only be permitted to end-of-life patients and in “exceptional circumstances” to other patients.

In a notice on its website HHFT said that for those wanting to visit patients, approval must be given by the ward or department team before coming on site.

If visitors are approved they must then provide proof of a negative lateral flow test taken within the last 24 hours and wear surgical masks at all times.

The notice posted on January 28 added: “The visiting guidance will be reviewed at the end of the two-week period, and we will provide a further update after this time - so please keep checking back.”

Chief nurse, Katie Prichard-Thomas, said: “Keeping our patients and staff safe is our top priority. As we continue to see an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases, on Friday (28 January) we took the decision to further limit our visiting restrictions across our three hospital sites for a period of two weeks; to be reviewed on 11 February.

“Visiting will be permitted for end-of-life patients and for those with exceptional circumstances, in discussion with our ward/department teams.

“We understand how important it is for families and friends to stay connected, and there are several ways in which loved ones can keep in touch with our patients should visiting not be possible during this time, including virtual visiting and our patient messaging service.”

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