Patients and visitors : Highclere Ward

Protected mealtimes

Mealtimes and nutrition are an important part of recovery and rehabilitation and therefore, where a patient does not need support at mealtimes, we would encourage our patients to have an uninterrupted mealtime.

We encourage family and friends to visit their loved ones whilst they are in hospital.

We're flexible about visiting and will do everything we can to help you visit at a time that is convenient.

We don't have fixed visiting hours, but suggest that you come in between 10am and 8pm.

If this isn’t suitable, please talk to us so that we can make arrangements to avoid disturbing other patients

Mealtimes and care plans

Please keep in mind that your family member or friend may be receiving treatment, or following their care plan which will include good nutrition and sleep.

Please talk to your loved one and/or ward staff team when arranging your visit so that you can arrive without disturbing treatment and meal times. 

Privacy

Very occasionally, a patient's wishes regarding visiting may not be the same as the person wishing to visit. In this case, we will always give priority to the patient in our care.

Who can visit?

Patients are welcome to have two visitors at a time.

However, if you would prefer to bring additional family or friends to the visit, please speak to us before, as we may be able to offer a day room (depending on availability), or outside in the garden if the weather is OK. 

We recommend not bringing children under 12 to visit, but speak to our ward team for advice.

If we have a suspected or confirmed infection on the ward, we will let you know and if you would still like to visit, we will ask you to wear a face mask and follow hand hygiene and other precautions where indicated. 

However, in order to protect all our patients, if you have had an infectious illness up to two days prior to your visit e.g. diarrhoea, vomiting, rashes, a heavy cold, cough or COVID/ flu, we would ask you to please rearrange your visit. In this case, please do ask us about the option of having phone or video contact.

• Learn more about Infection Prevention and Control