Please do not attend with the following symptoms

Do not visit if you are unwell with any of the following symptoms;

  • Runny nose
  • Headache
  • Sore throat
  • New onset of increased tiredness/fatigue
  • Sneezing
  • Fever (A high temperature over 37.8 degrees)
  • New continuous cough
  • Recent loss or change to sense of smell and taste
  • New Aches and Pains
  • Diarrhoea or Vomiting     

Mask wearing at Nottingham University Hospitals

Masks are no longer required in all parts of the Trust. Some areas with clinically vulnerable patients or areas with higher numbers of respiratory viruses have continued to wear masks, reducing risks of cross infection.

We know that surgical facemasks can be effective at reducing ongoing transmission so we ask that everyone wears them when there is a poster indicating that you should do so.

What we ask of you when you visit

What we ask of you when you visit

  • Visiting at NUH in general inpatient wards is between 11am-8pm. If you need to make arrangements out of this time please contact the ward directly.
  • We encourage visitors to NUH as you are an important part of your loved ones care and recovery.
  • You must not visit if you are unwell with cold/ flu like symptoms or vomiting and diarrhoea. We therefore may ask questions to confirm you are not unwell at each visit.
  • Please go directly to the area you are visiting and avoid going to other areas of the hospital before your visit.

Masks will continue to be provided to patients, visitors and staff who choose to wear a mask out of personal choice and if a patient being treated in any area of the hospital asks a member of staff to wear a mask because they feel vulnerable – the staff member will do so.  

Please continue to treat everyone who chooses to wear a facemask with respect.

  • Please wash your hands on arrival at the hospital, throughout your visit and when you leave or use the hand sanitiser provided
  • Please bring as few personal belongings with you as possible.
  • Please do not eat or drink whilst on our wards.
  • Please do not use the patient toilets. Public facilities are available away from the wards and clinics.
  • Please do not wander around the ward or interact with other patients.
  • A visitor to our adult wards does not need to be the same throughout a patient's stay.
  • Please be aware that children under five are not routinely allowed to visit unless there are special circumstances. If you are unsure, please speak to the Ward Manager.


Where a patient may be coming towards the end of life or are critically ill in these areas with active transmissible infection, then please discuss with the nurse in charge to organise safe visiting, we know that this is a very difficult time for you and your loved one and we will do everything we can to support you.

Compassionate Visiting

Compassionate Visiting

In addition to the above for general visiting, we are committed to continue supporting compassionate visiting, allowing more individualised visiting arrangements where required, for example a patient may:

  • Be critically ill or receiving end of life care,
  • Require carers to support with learning disabilities,
  • Require carers to support with dementia
  • Be receiving particularly difficult news.
  • Require assistance with their communication or to meet their health, emotional, religious or spiritual care needs
  • They are there to support through antenatal and scan attendances, induction of labour, during labour, as well as in the postnatal period

Emergency Department visiting

If you are a patient in our Emergency Department, you can have one adult accompany you. However, it is important to note that this will be reviewed if the department is crowded. If you can come alone, please do so.

Click here for more information and advice on our Emergency Department | NUH

Infection control

Controlling infections

We can all play our part to help limit and prevent the spread of infection. 

If you are visiting our hospitals for treatment or to see a loved one please take a look at the advice below.

 

Patients

  • If you have not seen our staff clean their hands before they touch you please just say: "Have you cleaned your hands?"
  • Always wash your hands after going to the toilet and before touching food
  • Please use the alcohol gel provided at the entrances to wards and departments
  • Tell a member of staff if you notice anywhere that has not been cleaned properly such as the ward, bathrooms or toilets
  • If you have a drip, drain or catheter that becomes sore please check with your nurse if it needs changing
  • Please take the whole course of any antibiotic medicines you are given
  • You should wash your hair and take a bath or shower as usual at home before coming in for surgery
  • If you have diarrhoea please tell the nursing staff

 

Visitors

  • Please do not visit the hospital if you are unwell with cold-like symptoms or diarrhoea and vomiting symptoms
  • Please do not sit on the bed. If there are no chairs available please ask a member of staff to provide you with one
  • Any children visiting must be supervised all the time, so that they do not touch equipment or dressings
  • Make sure you wash your hands on the ward or use alcohol gel before and after visiting a patient in hospital, and follow advice on notices of side room doors
  • Check how many visitors are allowed in at any one time

 

If you have any concerns or questions about cleanliness or infection control please speak to the nurse-in-charge on the ward or contact our infection prevention and control teams on:

Tel: 0115 9249924
Ext: 83866 (QMC) or 55578 (City Hospital)

Our sites are smokefree

Whether you're a patient, visitor, or staff member, you can't smoke on any of our hospital sites. This is to protect vulnerable patients and children from the adverse effects of cigarette smoke. 

This includes all side roads, car parks and outdoor areas within our campus boundary. If you wish to smoke, you will need to walk off our site, otherwise you may be challenged by NUH staff. We also remind you that, if you choose to smoke off site, you will need to be mindful of our local neighbours, and we ask that you dispose of cigarette butts and litter in a bin. 

You can report individuals smoking on our sites to our Security team. Speak to a member of the front desk team, or ward staff, who can report this on your behalf. 

Got any questions about smoking at NUH?

Contact Tel: 0115 924 9924 Ext:89385 to speak to our Stop Smoking Team or email smokefree@nuh.nhs.uk.

 

Advice for smokers who are in-patients

When you’re admitted to our hospital, the admitting clinician will ask you whether you’re a smoker. We offer all smokers nicotine replacement therapy which usually takes the form of patches and an inhalator (this will be prescribed for you on the ward).

If you are having a planned operation it is best to stop smoking completely before your operation. If you are unable to do this, stopping after your surgery will still benefit your recovery. Smoking reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood and slows down the rate of wound healing.

As the hospital grounds are smokefree, using nicotine replacement therapy will help you with any cravings whilst you’re admitted. You will also be offered the option of support from our stop smoking advisors, who can visit you at your bedside. They can provide you with additional behavioural support to help you to stay smoke-free once you have left hospital. If you accept additional support from our stop smoking advisors, they can arrange for you to be discharged with two weeks of nicotine replacement therapy. They will then support you for up to twelve weeks over the telephone and arrange for you to continue with your stop smoking medications via your GP or through a local stop smoking service in the community.

You are four times more likely to stay quit using stop smoking medications with the support of a stop smoking advisor.

Vaping on site

Vaping is allowed on NUH sites for patients, visitors and staff.

The most up-to-date research on the effects of vaping shows it to be 95% safer than smoking (based on research by Public Health England). Vapes contain only a fraction of the chemicals found in tobacco, and a 2014 Public Health England independent evidence review showed that there is no evidence of harm to bystanders from exposure to e-cigarette vapour, and the risks to health are likely to be extremely low.

Unfortunately, due to fire prevention protocol, we are unable to allow patients to charge vapes on our wards and in our hospitals.