People with coronavirus can have very mild or no symptoms at all. This means they can spread the virus to other people without knowing.

We provide care for vulnerable people and our staff see lots of patients each day. It is important we all take responsibility for reducing the spread of coronavirus.

We want to keep you, your family, other patients and our staff safe. Because we care, we might ask you to do things differently while you are here.

Tips for staying safe generally but especially when in our hospitals:

Keep hands clean

Coronavirus and other viruses and bacteria can stay on surfaces for some time. To protect yourself and your loved ones, please wash your hands with soap and water or use hand sanitiser as often as possible.

Try not to touch your face (mouth, nose, eyes) as this is an easy way to spread the virus.

Wear a mask

Wearing a mask reduces the risk of you passing coronavirus to other patients and staff, so please wear your mask to protect others while you are here. 

Even if you don’t have any symptoms, it is important you wear your mask properly (covering your nose and mouth) at all times. If you can’t wear a mask for any reason, please talk to your care team about what to do.

If you have a carer or visitor coming to see you, they will also be asked to wear a mask or face covering to protect us all.

Make space for others

As well as wearing a mask, we all need to remember to make space for other people. Leaving at least two metres between you and other people is one of the main things you can do to reduce the risk of catching or spreading coronavirus. 

Sometimes it is easy to forget to keep our distance, especially when we think someone needs our help.

To help keep us all safe, please don’t:

  • sit on other patients’ beds or seats
  • share food and drink or other items (e.g. newspapers)
  • pick up or move items for other people
  • help other patients to walk or move about

This is important for carers and visitors too. If you or another patient need something, please let our staff know. Our staff are trained to help in a safe way.

Stay in place

We know it can be hard to stay in the same place for a long time, but moving about can quickly spread the virus, especially if you do not know you have it. It also increases the chance of you catching it.

Please do not visit other parts of the hospital unless you are asked to by a member of staff. If you are asked to stay in a waiting or treatment area, please stay there.

If you think you need to go somewhere or want to get something (for example, food/drink or outside for fresh air), check with your care team first.

Coronavirus tests for people who are staying in hospital

Regular testing helps us to find out if people have coronavirus but don’t have any symptoms. This means we can take the right steps to protect you and others.

We may need you to take regular tests to help reduce the spread of coronavirus. If you are asked to take a test, please do so.

If you test positive for coronavirus, you might be moved to a different room to keep people around you safe and so that we can provide you with the right type of care.

Working together to protect each other

It’s ok to remind doctors, nurses and other patients that we need to make space for each other and to cover our mouths and noses. Reminders can help us all to look out for each other.