Hospital visiting was suspended in Fife on 26 March 2020 as part of a series of measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in healthcare sites. With the numbers of people contracting COVID-19 now greatly reduced from the peak in March and April, these restrictions are now being gradually relaxed.
From 13 July 2020, patients in the non-coronavirus areas of Fife’s hospitals will be allowed visits from one named person at a time. The visits must be agreed in advance with the ward where the patient is being treated and visitors must wear a face covering at all times whilst in any communal areas of the hospital.
Those visiting any clinical areas such as wards will be asked to remove their face covering when entering and will instead be issued with a surgical face mask, which must be worn in its place. When leaving these areas, the surgical face mask must be removed and the face covering worn again.
Within those areas where patients may be treated whilst positive for COVID-19, only essential visitors will be allowed, such as in cases where a person is receiving end of life care, to accompany children or adults with mental health issues, or to support women during childbirth.
Importantly, visitors must not attend if they have any possible symptoms of the virus, such as a new cough; a sore throat; or a loss of taste or smell.
As announced previously, strict social-distancing and hygiene measures will be in place to limit the risk of the virus spreading within our hospitals. These include visitors being prevented from bringing presents such as flowers, food parcels or balloons into the hospital.
NHS Fife’s Director of Nursing, Helen Buchanan, said:
"We are delighted that our patients will once again be able to receive visits from loved ones. This is incredibly important and it is well established that this assists patients in their physical recovery as well as with their mental wellbeing.
"We really do appreciate how difficult it has been for our patients, and indeed their families, having not been able to have face-to-face contact during their stay in hospital. As staff members, many of us have been in similar situations with our own loved ones.
"The fact that we now in a position where we can begin to ease these restrictions is testament to how far we have come in responding to this pandemic. Local people have been incredibly understanding of the unprecedented steps we have taken to suppress the spread of the virus here in Fife.
"It is crucial that visitors adhere to the rules, such as those on face coverings, physical distancing and hand washing, if we are to continue to ease these restrictions over the coming weeks and months."
