Visiting times for adult patients are 12pm – 7pm.
Exceptions are:
- Paediatric (children’s) inpatient ward
- Crowborough and Maidstone birthing centres
- Neonatal Unit
- Delivery Suite
- Intensive Care Unit
- Emergency Department (A&E) – there are no standard visiting times but there may be times when only one visitor can be present, e.g. if the department is exceptionally busy or if the patient needs emergency treatment.
- Emergency Assessment Units
- Systematic Anti-Cancer Therapy units (SACT) including Charles Dickens ward, Haematology Outpatient Day Unit (HODU) and Chartwell unit.
Please speak with our teams in these areas for more information about visiting.
Ward teams may need visitors to be present outside of visiting times, such as for patients who are in the terminal stages of illness, to better suit the patient’s clinical needs or to help calm anxious patients. The Trust are signed up to John’s Campaign, which supports carers’ rights to stay with people with dementia in hospital
Protected mealtimes
To ensure that we enhance and improve effective nutrition all wards have protected mealtimes, which are periods of time when routine activity on the ward is reduced so that nurses, ward based teams and catering staff can serve and supervise meals and give assistance to those patients who need help to eat and drink. Please check with the ward staff.
We welcome visitors who wish to help their relative or friend at mealtimes, however please check with ward staff before giving assistance. Otherwise we ask that visitors come to see their relative or friend outside mealtimes.
For more information, please speak to the ward manager or matron. Alternatively read our protected mealtimes information leaflet for patients and visitors.
Preventing infections
To help reduce the spread of infection and safeguard our patients, follow these simple tips when visiting a friend or relative at our hospitals.
- Please do not visit your friend or relative in hospital if you have had symptoms of diarrhoea and/or vomiting within the last 48 hours, or if you have symptoms of cold or flu. This helps to reduce the risk of cross infection to our hospital patients.
- Plan your visit to fit with visiting times and around protected meal times. These are in place to ensure essential patient care and so ward cleaning can take place.
- Please gel your hands when entering the ward and at the bed space where your friend or relative is and repeat this process when leaving. This helps prevent the possible spreading of germs to our vulnerable patients.
- If your friend or relative is being isolated please speak to the nurse in charge for guidance before entering the room.
- Please do not sit on the beds – these are strictly for patient use only. This is to prevent any contamination from your clothing being transferred to the patient environment and vice versa.
- The Trust has no storage facilities for food, so please do not bring any perishable or high risk food into the hospitals.
- Please do not bring in unnecessary items for your friend or relative – they can makes it difficult for cleaning staff to access all surfaces that may harbour dust and infection. In an emergency situation it could hinder access.
- Please do not touch your friend or relative’s wound or any other device such as drips and catheters. These areas/devices are high risk for infection so should not be handled unnecessarily.
- If you have any concerns about the cleanliness of the hospital environment, please report these to the nurse or sister in charge as soon as possible so that prompt action can be taken.
- If you have any concerns about infection prevention and control issues please ask to speak to a member of the team.