Weekly community update from our CEO

Posted Friday, November 6, 2020 1:34 PM

6 November 2020 – update two

An update to patients, communities and partners of Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS FT

Hello, 

A lot has happened this week and we have decided to provide a brief weekly update on any changes we have made and to remind all about our pre-existing guidelines. Since the update last week we have moved into national restrictions. I recognise this will be a worrying time for all of us and we are doing everything we can to continue to maintain our services whilst responding to Covid.

This week the number of patients with Covid at Sherwood has reached the peak number we saw in wave one and our hospitals feel busy. More positive news is fewer patients are passing away with Covid, fewer patients so far have been admitted onto our Intensive Care Unit and we are able to safely discharge patients quicker, all compared to wave one. Comparisons are imprecise though because we are testing more patients now and we have more services running, compared to wave one.

You can help Newark Hospital, Mansfield Community Hospital and King’s Mill Hospital by following the Government advice. Please remember Hands, Face, Space. Wash your hands regularly, use a face covering when social distancing is not possible and try to keep your distance from those not in your household. 

This week we have had to make some changes to accessing our sites in response to the increasing rates of Covid. There are no changes to maternity (birth partners allowed for 12 and 20 week scans, induction, labour and on the maternity ward afterwards) or outpatients (no visitors or partners unless in specific circumstances) but we are now reducing access on the wards to visitors only to patients who have been an inpatient for seven days. Once a week is reached, patients can receive a named visitor three times a week and there are exceptions for particular patient groups to receive visitors earlier or more regularly. I recognise this is difficult but we have to keep all patients and colleagues at Sherwood safe. I believe our visiting policy remains compassionate and pragmatic. Julie Hogg (Chief Nurse) and I have written to two visitors in the last couple of weeks who did not comply with our safety measures. We would prefer to not have to do this again. 

Please practice social distancing, clean your hands and wear a surgical face mask in our hospitals.

It is important you do not attend our hospitals if you have any symptoms of Covid or have been asked to isolate. This reduces the risk of someone unwittingly bringing the infection into our hospitals and putting colleagues and vulnerable patients at risk. From next week we will be taking the temperature of all visitors as they enter KMH. 

I believe we are making the right decisions based on the evidence available but I do recognise these changes will impact on you and I am sorry for this. Please stay safe, look after each other and follow the guidelines. 

Thank you for your support.

 

Richard Mitchell
Chief Executive