Information for visitors - relatives and other loved ones
We have recently moved to our brand new Intensive Care Unit.
We are now situated on the ground floor of the hospital, next to WHSmith.
Our front doors are kept locked for the safety of our patients.
We do have an intercom system in place for anyone wishing to visit the unit. Simply press the intercom by the doors and one of our team will respond as soon as they can, to let you into the reception area. You will then be greeted by a member of the team who will escort you to the patient you wish to visit.
Visiting times and guidelines
Our current visiting times are:
10am to 8pm, 7 days a week
We aim to be as accommodating and flexible as possible with visiting. However, there may be times where we ask that you leave the bed space or unit.
This may be for us to provide essential nursing care, so we can perform essential medical procedures or so we can ensure that your loved one gets the rest they need.
As a recommendation, we advise that you limit your visits to 2 hour blocks, per a visit. This is advised for your own wellbeing, as much as it is for patients' - it's good for loved ones to ensure that they have breaks away from the ICU environment.
Whilst we do allow children to visit the ICU, we advise parents to consider the potential impact the visit could have on their children - considering their age and unique personality. Seeing a critically unwell loved one can be an intense experience for a child, and could impact their mental well-being. Children should be accompanied by an adult at all times whilst on the unit.
In order for our staff to be able to provide the care needed, to best look after your loved one, we ask that you limit telephone calls to the unit. Please nominate one contact representative per patient so that the representative can inform the rest of a patient's closest circle of family and friends, of health updates.
In the event of any significant updates during your loved one’s stay on the unit, we will contact your nominated representative, and invite family members into the hospital to discuss developments, further.
Intensive care: experiences of family and friends
Seeing a friend or loved one or coming to terms with them being in the Intensive Care Unit can be a confusing and upsetting experience for many. Healthtalk.org has some useful information and first-hand experiences of what you can expect during this time.