Visiting Family and Friends (2024)

From Saturday 1July visitors can see their loved ones from 14:00 to 20:00 daily on all adult inpatient wards, with two visitors per patient at a time.

These visiting hours may vary depending on individual ward circ*mstances. Separate arrangements are in place for maternity, Critical Care, paediatrics or where the patient is end-of-life. These areas will have local visiting hours and procedures in place.

Visitors are asked, not to visit if:

• They have had or have any cold or flu like symptoms

• They have or have had any COVID symptoms – cough, temperature, loss/change of taste/smell

• They have had any symptoms of diarrhoea and/or vomiting in the last 48 hours

• They have had contact with a COVID case during last 5 days

• There is an outbreak of infection on the ward they are visiting, visiting arrangements will be reviewed and compassionate visiting facilitated as a minimum

Thank you for your continued support.

We are working with carers to give them the opportunity to visitpatient's outside our regular visiting hours. This is part of the national ‘John’s Campaign’, that recognises the important role of family members in the care of their loved ones whilst in hospital.

The campaign ensures that the carer of a patient who lives with dementia, anxiety, confusion and other complex needs is allowed to come into hospital to continue to provide the care for the patient and isn’t restricted by visiting hours.

The benefits includes:

• Maintaining familiarity

• Reducing anxiety and distress

• Allows for flexible and open visiting

The key focus behind John’s Campaign is a safe and open visiting culture, supporting care access to the hospital outside normal visiting hours. This will enable family members and carers to be with the person when they may be stressed, anxious, upset or lonely. The carer will then be on-hand to help with care needs, decision making and advocacy.

There should be one named carer per patient. If you would like to be a named carer, please speak with a member the ward team on which your loved one is a patient. They will be able to let you know how to get involved, includinghow to register.

Sometimes friends and relatives like to bring food in for patients when they are visitingsuch as biscuits, cake, fresh fruit and juices. Please check first with the ward staff just in case the patient you are visiting has any dietary restrictions or difficulties in swallowing.

We generally do not encourage you to bring other food into the hospital from home, as there is a risk from food poisoning, if it is not stored correctly during transportation or in the hospital.

You shouldNOTbring in food that needs to be heated or cooked as there are no cooking facilities on the wards. Please always ask staff advice on the best way to store food brought in safely.

Relatives and friends are welcome to bring in their own drink, sandwich or snacks to eat whilst visiting at meal times as this can make the meal time experience more sociable especially for our older patients.

At Kettering General Hospital we believe End of Life Care matters; ensuring quality of care meets the individual needs of patients who are between the last year of life and the last hours or days of life.

The last few days or hours of life will be different for each person and it can be difficult to predict what will happen or how quickly changes will occur.

It is important you feel able to ask questions in order to understand what is happening. Medical and nursing staff will be there to support you and to answer any questions you may have.

To help us minimise the risk of infection we encourage allvisitors and patients entering and leaving the ward to cleanse their hands using the hand sanitisers available at entry points to the ward areas.

If you are unable to use the hand sanitiser, please wash your hands with soap and water, at the nearest sink (at many ward entrances).

For aprintable version of maps including,a roadmap helping you to find your way to Kettering General Hospital (KGH). Ward and department locatormaps within KGH.

The hospital cannot take responsibility for loss or damage of personal electronic equipment.

Please do not use your mobile phone to take photographs of staff or other patients during your stay – this is an infringement of other people’s privacy and could result in action being taken against you by the individual(s) concerned.

We encourage patients to wear suitable clothing during their stay, including day wear where possible.

To help us we ask that friends and relatives take home the patients dirty clothing in a sealed plastic bag to wash and bring in clean clothes.

This will helps our patients feel cleaner and fresher and reduce the risk of infection. Special clothes bags are availableon the wards for this purpose, please ask ward staff if you need to use one.

Once you no longer need care in hospital, as decided by the health team looking after you, you will be discharged.It is always our priority to discharge people to a safe and appropriate place.

We have some rooms available for relatives of seriously ill patients on the Intensive Care Unit. "Put-me-up" beds are also available for parents of children in our children's ward.

Sometimes relatives/carers wishing to stay on site can book single or double rooms (with allocated parking bays) through Optivo, the hospital’s staff housing provider. Please contact the Property Manager on 0203 202 0330 for details.

Whilst most wards have regular visiting hours, they do not apply if your loved one is thought to be in the last days of life. Please feel free to stay with your loved one as long as you need to. If you wish to stay overnight please ask the ward how best we can accommodate this.

As from 6th June 2016 KGH has been designated a totally smoke-free site - both inside and out.

The smoking ban is across the whole of the NHS as part of the Government's campaign to improve the health of the nation.

To maintain this, people smoking on the hospital site can expect to be addressed by a member of staff or our security team and asked to put out their cigarette.

We would like to hear what you think

Listening to our patients, carers and relatives helps us improve the services we provide. We are here to listen, so we can learn from your experience. It is also beneficial when we receive feedback when things have gone well, so that we can build on good practice and continue to make improvements.

We understand that raising a concern can be difficult, especially when you don't know who to turn to. If you are unhappy about the treatment that you or somebody you care for is receiving, it may help talking to somebody directly involved. This might be a nurse, ward manager or doctor who will make every attempt to resolve your concerns.

If you're unable to discuss your concerns with a member of staff, or want to discuss them with someone in confidence away from the service, you can contact Patient Advisory andLiaison Service (PALS). PALS is a free and confidential service for people who would like information about, or to comment on, any aspect of the services provided by Kettering General Hospital.

To contact PALS please telephone 01536 493305/ 493306 or email kgh-tr.pals@nhs.net.

If you have been pleased by the care that you have received, please do take the time to let our staff know – it gives us all a real boost and a thank you goes a long way. You canleave comments about the care you have received on the NHS Choices website or complete our Friends and Family Questionnaire.