Please give us your views on hospital visiting
Go here to take part in our online visiting survey
We’re reviewing our visiting policy and want to know what you think.
Visiting is very important for the wellbeing of patients, their families, carers and friends. Visitors often have an important role caring for patients while they are in hospital, by helping them to eat and drink, for example.
Visiting is such an important part of healthcare that we really want to get it right – and your views can help to shape that.
We last reviewed our visiting policy in 2015 when we introduced flexible visiting. However during the pandemic, visiting was stopped or heavily restricted.
Since then we’ve lifted most of these restrictions, but wards have not gone back to the pre-pandemic arrangements. There are now inconsistencies in visiting hours, which is causing confusion.
We believe the time is right to look again at visiting arrangements for our general adult wards, with an aim to have the same arrangements across all our sites. Our starting point is the current All-Wales updated guidance for hospital visiting.
After speaking to staff from a wide range of our services, departments from across our sites, and learning from previous experiences, we have drawn up a draft set of visiting arrangements. We will test these out over a four week pilot at Neath Port Talbot Hospital.
The key points of our proposed new visiting arrangements:
- Aimed at our general adult medical, surgical and rehabilitation wards (specialist and children’s wards have their own visiting arrangements, see our website for details)
- The proposed general visiting hours are: 2pm-4pm and 6pm-8pm, every day. Visiting outside of these hours will only be in exceptional circumstances, agreed with the ward manager. If agreement can’t be reached, the site Patient Advisor Liaison Team can be contacted for further advice.
- However more flexible visiting arrangements will be offered for those relatives, friends and especially carers who are helping to care for a patient. For example: helping them to eat at mealtimes, supporting cognitive or sensory impaired patients, helping patients with mental health or learning disabilities, or supporting a patient’s rehabilitation. These flexible visiting times can be agreed with ward staff on an individual patient basis.
- Visiting will also be individually agreed for patients who are receiving palliative or end of life care, as we appreciate the sensitivities for those patients and their families, partners and carers. These arrangements to be discussed with ward staff.
- Number of visitors: a maximum of two visitors at a time.
- Visitors under the age of 16: This will be at the discretion of the nurse in charge, with agreement from the patient, and with adult supervision. Young carers may visit unsupervised.
- Sometimes we might need to restrict visiting – for example if there is an infection outbreak within a ward.
Our visiting pilot
For our visiting pilot, which runs from Monday 6th May 2024 for four weeks, the wards involved at Neath Port Talbot Hospital are: A, B, C, D, E and the Neuro-rehabilitation Unit.
We want to hear from patients, visitors, carers and staff at Neath Port Talbot over those dates.
We will also be seeking the views of other patients and members of the public on what our visiting arrangements should be before we make any decisions about introducing them across all our hospitals.
We look forward to hearing your views.
Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth a galwadau ffôn yn y Gymraeg neu'r Saesneg. Atebir gohebiaeth Gymraeg yn y Gymraeg, ac ni fydd hyn yn arwain at oedi. Mae’r dudalen hon ar gael yn Gymraeg drwy bwyso’r botwm ar y dde ar frig y dudalen.
We welcome correspondence and telephone calls in Welsh or English. Welsh language correspondence will be replied to in Welsh, and this will not lead to a delay. This page is available in Welsh by clicking ‘Cymraeg’ at the top right of this page.