GOSH’s new visitor guidelines brings families back together

At Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), visits from family and friends are hugely important to the children and young people we care for. Sadly, the need to protect people from COVID-19 has disrupted these visits for a long time.

Now, following new guidance from National Health Service England (NHSE), we are able to welcome more friends and family into the hospital once again, as long as we follow some simple precautions to protect our vulnerable patients from an outbreak of the virus.

Under our new visiting guidelines, patients can receive as many visitors as they could before the pandemic. Parents and carers are able to visit together and siblings are welcome too.

There are still some important safeguards to be aware of.

• No one should visit the hospital if they feel unwell, and anyone who develops flu like symptoms while at the hospital should inform the ward and go home immediately.
• Parents and family members visiting a communal ward will be encouraged to wear a Fluid Resistant Surgical Mask. These are provided by the hospital.
• Fluid resistant surgical masks are optional for outpatient appointments, but again will be provided by the hospital.
• The space we have available still limits the number of visitors we can accommodate. A maximum of two parents or carers may attend an outpatient appointment and while two parents or carers can accompany a patient to theatres, we ask that only one carer does so if possible.
• Nursing staff on the wards need to complete a family assessment on every shift, by asking visitors a few simple questions about how they are feeling.

Spending time with friends and family makes life so much better for children and young people who have to spend time in hospital. We found it hard to limit visiting during the pandemic and are delighted to be opening things up once more. I hope these changes make life easier for the families we work with and help parents and carers support each other, as well as their children.”

GOSH Chief Nurse Tracy Luckett

There are still challenges for the hospital to overcome in recovering from the pandemic. Please be aware that our activity centre remains closed at present and our playrooms are not yet fully back in use. Please bear with us as we go through the difficult process to restore our services and our site.

If you have questions or concerns about the new visiting guidelines, please contact your clinical team or our London office on telephone number +44 (0)20 7762 6822