Visiting restrictions could be relaxed at Shropshire hospitals says trust boss

Bosses are hoping to allow people back in to hospitals, including Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital.

With limited exceptions, all visitors are currently barred, but hospital trust medical director Dr Arne Rose said he was now looking to relax that rule - and will let people know when the trust is ready to do so.

He said trials have also been carried out for video clinics, which will enable appointments to be kept using online technology.

Read the latest column from Dr Arne Rose here:

This week there has been some positive news in the media. On Monday, the UK recorded the lowest increase in coronavirus-related deaths since we entered ‘lockdown’. The Health Secretary said the virus was in ‘retreat’.

While that news is very welcome, we have to be cautious. The number of deaths reported on a Monday is usually lower, because of a reporting lag over the weekend.

Furthermore, the risk of a second wave remains a very real possibility.

And, most importantly, let us not forget that, even with that ‘low’ number, 77 people still lost their lives – 77 families are grieving and trying to come to terms with what has happened.

At our hospitals, we are still treating around 30 people who have tested positive for Covid-19, and last week we sadly passed an unwelcome milestone with more than 150 people having died at our hospitals since the pandemic began.

As things start to enter a ‘new normal’, we continue to plan for what that will mean for patients, staff and visitors at the Royal Shrewsbury and Princess Royal hospitals.

Visiting currently remains suspended at both hospitals (with some exceptions) but we have now been asked to look at how we may be able to relax some of the visiting restrictions.

This will not be an immediate change and will take time and careful planning. We will, of course, let people know when we are ready to do so.

One of the things we are looking at is the use of video clinics, which we have been trialling in some areas. We hope to be able to announce more information on this very soon.

Antibody tests to see if someone has had coronavirus are now being rolled out for our frontline staff and for inpatients. While the test can tell if someone has had the virus or not, it does not provide information about any level of protection or immunity from getting the virus again.

The test will help us get more colleagues back into work, but it is clear that anyone having this test should still adhere to social distancing measures – as should anyone who is leaving their home for any reason.

Although restrictions are easing, the advice still remains to stay at home as much as possible and limit your contact with people outside your household. Do not leave home if you or anyone in your household has symptoms.

If you have symptoms of coronavirus (a new continuous cough, a high temperature or a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of smell or taste) you should use the national booking system by visiting www.nhs.uk/coronavirus.

If you don’t have access to the internet, ring 119 to book your test. Testing can either be done at home by applying for a home testing kit or by registering for an appointment at a drive-through testing centre.

Anyone who tests positive for coronavirus will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace and will need to share information about their recent interactions.

People identified as having been in close contact with someone who has a positive test must stay at home for 14 days, even if they do not have symptoms, to stop them unknowingly spreading the virus.

There is only one way we can continue to see positive headlines like those at the start of the week, and that is by continuing to do everything we can to control the spread of the virus.