Important information: Visiting arrangements on our adult inpatient wards - updated 27.01.2023
From Friday 27 January visiting arrangements on our adult inpatient wards are been revised.
Following a review of our infection prevention and control guidance, we are now allowing two visitors to visit their loved ones at the bedside for up to two hours per day.
In order to maintain patient and public / visitor safety; visiting will be subject to the ward not having any active cases of infections that could be passed on. This local guidance could change at any time at short notice.
This change is as a result of us continually monitoring infection rates in the hospital and locally.
Patients attending outpatient appointments can bring one adult to accompany them, however we would ask patients who are able to attend alone, to please do so.
Visitors and staff must continue with mask wearing and infection control guidance.
The hospitals’ infection prevention and control guidance to the public includes:
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Anyone showing any symptoms of COVID-19 or feeling otherwise unwell must not visit.
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Do not visit if a member of your household has tested positive for COVID-19 or flu
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Visitors, parents, guardians, siblings will be asked to wear a surgical facemask to visit our wards – including the Emergency Department
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Symptom /wellness checks will be completed on arrival in our wards
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Please continue to wash your hands regularly before, during, and after, attending hospital and follow staff instructions relevant to the area being attended.
Other actions local people can take to support their hospitals at this difficult time include:
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Please continue to wash your hands regularly before, during, and after, attending hospital and follow staff instructions relevant to the area being attended.
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Only going to A&E where this is absolutely necessary and using alternatives such as GP telephone appointments, pharmacies, Corby Urgent Care Centre or NHS 111.
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Don’t unnecessarily accompany someone to hospital unless your presence is vital for their safety. We have limited socially distanced waiting facilities and cannot allow these to become unnecessarily crowded
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Please attend your appointments on time – but not too much before time. If you arrive too early, you will be making waiting areas more crowded than they need to be.
Improving our Patients Experience
Patient experience and involvement are fundamental components to the provision of high quality care and a continuously evolving culture of patient centred care within the NHS. Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is committed to providing high quality care to the individuals, communities and the population that we serve. This aim is clear within our Trust Strategy and is described further within our Quality Strategy in which we have pledged to ‘Put Patients First’ ensuring the patients voice is at the centre of all we do.
The promotion of a positive patient experience is the responsibility of everyone at Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust from our housekeeping & estates staff, clinical teams to our Executive Board. This commitment is supported by the Patient Experience Team together with volunteers and our Governors.
Not only do we work with our patients, their carers and family members but we also work with independent bodies such as Healthwatch and Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire to monitor and make improvements to our services.
How to get involved with our Patient and Family Partner Programme
If you or a loved one have received care at KGH, or you simply want to help us improve the experience of our patients, please consider joining our Patient and Family Partner programme. As someone who has experience of our services or has supported someone to use our services, you have valuable insight that could shape the hospital.
Opportunities for involvement include:
Patient Information Committee - design and review information intened for patients to ensure it is informative, reable and understandable.
Patient Stories - collate and share patient stories for the purpose of learning and training of staff.
Patient and Carer Focus Groups - attend and support events and focus groups designed to collect feedback or co-design solutions on a particular topic.
Collecting Feedback - supporting our patients, families and carers to give their feedback in the best way for them.
Quality Improvement - be part of a project team looking at how to make quality improvement within certain areas. Use your own experience to help inform the direction of the project.
Committee/Group Member - share your patient or family perspectives in a variety of committees and groups that review and plan services throughout the hospital.
Patient and Family Partners are registered KGH volunteers who are actively involved in ensuring the patients voice us heard at all times within the organisation.
For more information on the programme
Please contact the KGH Patient Experience Team by emailing KGH-tr.patientexperience@nhs.net or by telephone 01536 492173 who will talk you through the details of the programme and will arrange for the KGH Volunteering Team to make contact with you to discuss the next steps required.