A letter from Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS FT to patients, communities and partners

Posted Friday, October 30, 2020 11:12 AM

We entered the very high Tier 3 restrictions this morning. We recognise this is a challenging and worrying time for all of us and we would like to reassure everyone that we are doing everything we can to continue to maintain our services whilst responding to Covid. As I have previously shared, the emotional impact of Covid will be felt by all of us and we take seriously our responsibility to look after the physical and mental wellbeing of colleagues and patients. Consistently treating others with respect and kindness makes a big difference. I wanted to provide you with some specific updates: 

You can help Newark Hospital, Mansfield Community Hospital and King’s Mill Hospital by following the clear Government Tier 3 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. 

We are open for all patients who need to be treated in hospital. If you have an emergency, please visit our Emergency Department to get the urgent help and care you need. Our Urgent Care Centre at Newark is open from 9am – 9:30pm for any injuries that are urgent but not life threatening. If it is not an emergency but you need urgent medical help or advice, we would urge you to contact NHS 111. Please continue to use our services wisely and get the help you need. 

We are regularly reviewing our services and policies, but at the moment the Tier 3 restrictions do not mean further changes to our hospitals. 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.

We are continuing with our compassionate visiting policy which does limits the numbers of people attending our sites to protect you, our patients and our colleagues, but wherever appropriate, all inpatients may have a visitor. 

For maternity appointments we are able to allow one visitor at 12 and 20 week scans, women can be accompanied to an induction of labour and have a birthing partner who can visit the maternity ward afterwards. 

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. These are difficult times but we will get through this as a community if we work together to help and protect each other. Please stay safe, look after each other and follow the guidelines. Thank you for your support. 

Richard Mitchell
Chief Executive - Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Richard.Mitchell2@nhs.net

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