Your visit

In this section

Visiting

We know it can be a worry to have a loved one in hospital, and that visits from loved ones, family and friends can help a patient’s wellbeing and recovery.

Please do not visit if you are feeling unwell. You must not visit if you are unwell, or if someone in your household, or a close contact is unwell.

You may be asked to wear a face mask when visiting family and friends or coming for an appointment, due to a rise in Covid cases. We would like to thank all visitors for their support and cooperation at this time.

Hand hygiene

Please sanitise your hands when you arrive at the hospital. There are hand-sanitising points around the hospital – please feel free to use them.

Visiting times

We welcome visitors between 2pm-8pm.

Two visitors for one patient at one time, please.

Please sit on the chairs, rather than the beds.

Please check arrangements for the area you are visiting or ask the nurse in charge e.g. Visitors to New Selby Memorial Hospital can visit between 1pm – 7:30pm.

Visitors with assistance dogs are welcome (except where exceptional circumstances apply).

Children

Children under the age of 12 should not visit the hospital. Exceptions to this are for the child or the grandchild of the patient, or for a Young Carer. Children’s visits should be limited to 30 minutes. Children must be accompanied by an adult and always supervised.

Carers, John’s Campaign, and reasonable adjustments

Carers will be offered the flexibility to be with their loved one when most needed, and we understand that this may be outside of our normal visiting hours. Carers are welcome to stay and visit for longer, including overnight where possible.

We support John’s campaign and staff are encouraged to take a flexible approach to visiting hours and make reasonable adjustments as needed, to support treatment and care.

Involving carers can help to minimise distress and remove barriers to enable people to receive care. For example, being flexible to allow a Carer to stay longer or accompany someone in hospital would be a reasonable adjustment to support people living with dementia. More information for Carers about how we follow John’s Campaign is here.

This approach can also be used to support people with a sensory impairment or communication need, autistic people, people who experience anxiety or other mental health condition, people who have a learning disability and people with other disabilities or complex needs.

Please talk to the nurse in charge to plan for visiting outside of normal hours and overnight stays. Young Carers are not able to stay overnight.

Mealtimes and food

Please do not bring food into the hospital.

Carers who are supporting a loved one in hospital may wish to come in and help with mealtimes. Please talk to the nurse in charge on the ward to plan for this.

Some wards prefer not to have visitors during mealtimes to be sure patients eat enough food to help with their recovery. Check with the nurse in charge, as it may be different for Carers and patients with a need for reasonable adjustments.

Mobile phones and WiFi

You can use your mobile and/or digital devices in most areas of the hospital and you can use hospital WiFi.

There are some areas where using your mobile and/or device is not allowed. There will be signs telling you not to use your mobile and/or device – please follow them.

Please do not use mobiles and/or devices within two metres of medical equipment. This may interfere with the operation of the equipment and be detrimental to patients – please ask.

Parking at the hospitals

There are car parks at all our hospital sites. Car parking charges are in place up until 8pm.

If you have a Blue Badge, parking is free of charge in designated Blue Badge Holder parking areas. Accessible parking information for York hospital is here; Scarborough hospital here; Bridlington hospital here.

More information about accessing the hospitals can be found on the AccessAble site here.

Concessionary parking is available for some visitors, including Carers. More information is here.

Smoking

Our hospitals are Smokefree - you will not be able to smoke whilst you are here. This means we will ask you not to bring cigarettes with you or ask your visitors to bring them in for you.

Vaping is allowed outside at all our hospitals, and if you vape please be considerate of others and try to vape away from near entrances and open windows.

As vaping is at least 95% less harmful than smoking, we will also be encouraging people who cannot stop using support and medication alone to try vaping as a way of stopping smoking entirely.

To make sure that everyone has the best experience of our Smokefree hospitals, we will be asking everyone if they smoke and will aim to provide a stop smoking medicine within half an hour of them being admitted as a patient.

Visiting areas with special requirements

Maternity wards (G2, G3 and Hawthorn)

Family and friends are welcome to visit between 2pm-8pm every day.

Two visitors for a patient at one time, please.

Partners or family may stay until mother and baby are settled for the night. There are not the facilities for partners or family to stay overnight on the ward, unfortunately.

The baby’s siblings are welcome to visit between 8am-8pm. Children must always be accompanied by an adult and always supervised.

Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU)

Parents/guardians and siblings of the baby are welcome to visit at any time. Please follow hand hygiene rules and mask wearing advice when visiting SCBU.

If other people would like to visit, this needs to be discussed with the nurse in charge.

Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

Parents and siblings of the baby are welcome to visit.

Please follow hand hygiene rules and mask wearing advice when visiting the ICU.

If more visitors would like to visit, this should be discussed with the nurse in charge.

Children’s wards

Parents or carers

Visiting on the children’s ward is open 24 hours a day for parents and carers.

Family and friends

Visiting times are 2pm-8pm and there can be only four visitors to a patient.

Visitors under the age of 18 years must be accompanied by an adult and always supervised.

Emergency Departments (EDs and A&E)

The rules for the Emergency Department (ED or A&E) are different. There are no visiting hours for ED because they are very busy and often have very poorly patients needing urgent and emergency care and so visiting friends and family is discouraged.

People coming to ED for treatment may have one family member/ friend accompany them (unless reasonable adjustments are required e.g. to minimise distress or support communications, please talk to the nurse in charge). If the patient is a child under 16yrs both parents can accompany them.

For more information about ED and A&E see links below:

Emergency Department at York

Emergency Department at Scarborough

High-Risk Wards
On High-Risk wards and departments visiting is still possible. To visit check with the nurse in charge before you come to the hospital.

The High-Risk Wards and departments include:

COVID wards

Critical Care Unit (Read more about the Critical Care Unit here)

High-Risk Category patient (HRC) wards (i.e. Wards 33 & 31 – York; Juniper Ward – Scarborough).

FAQs

Question	Answer	Exceptions
What if the ward I want to visit is closed?	Wards may close if there is an infection or a high risk of infection. The ward is closed to control the spread of the infection and for the safety of the patients and staff When a ward is closed visiting is limited or paused until the ward reopens.	Restricted visiting may continue for patients in: Critical Care Unit Children’s ward Maternity End of Life care. Restricted visiting may also continue as part of reasonable adjustments necessary to help someone get the care they need.
What if more than two of us would like to visit at once?	Staff on the ward may ask some visitors to wait in the waiting area. Staff may decide to cut the visit short if it is felt to be best for the patient.	Some areas allow more than two people to visit – please check with the nurse in charge. For patients receiving End of Life care, there are no restrictions on visiting times or length of visit when visiting someone who is approaching the end of life.
What happens if I would like to come with my loved one for an appointment?	You are welcome to come with the patient for an appointment to support them. However, sometimes you may be asked to leave the clinical area to allow care or treatment to be delivered. Visitors may use available seating in Outpatient and Day Case areas. We understand that sometimes reasonable adjustments are needed for someone to access care with support of a carer, for example. Please arrange with the nurse in charge.
What if I would like to visit a patient outside of visiting hours?	If you would like to visit your loved one outside of the normal visiting hours, this is best agreed with the nurse in charge of the ward. The decision will be made at the nurse’s discretion and will consider the patient’s best interests and needs.	Read how we follow John’s Campaign here About John’s Campaign If patient is nearing end of life. Read more here
Can I bring a pet?	Unfortunately, no. This is due to infection prevention and control guidance to help keep patients and staff safe.	Registered Assistance and Service Dogs are welcome (except in exceptional circumstances). These are working dogs who support people with hearing or visual impairment, and other access needs. Read about Assistance Dogs here
What if I want to visit a patient who is receiving End of Life care?	For patients receiving End of Life care, there are no restrictions on visiting times or length of visit when visiting someone who is approaching the end of life.