Wigan borough hospitals have increased the number of visitors patients are allowed

As of Tuesday May 3 in-patients at the Wrightington Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) sites are now able to welcome two visitors instead of just one.

WWL Chief Nurse Rabina Tindale said: “We would like to thank the public and our community for supporting us and continuing to adhere to guidelines as we begin to increase the number of visitors to our hospitals.

“Being able to visit loved ones during their time in hospital is vital to the wellbeing of both the patient and those who care for them and we’re glad that we’re now able to accommodate more than one visitor at a time for each patient.”

Traditional visiting hours have been replaced with designated times for visitors.

All patients are being allowed one visit per day and are allocated with a specific time slot.

Social distancing and mask-wearing must also still be adhered to.

Ms Tindale said: “We must ask that, when visiting, people remain vigilant in following our current visiting policies.

“Please do only visit loved ones if you feel well and have no traditional Covid-19 symptoms.

“We also urge visitors to continue to wear a mask when on any hospital or service site, use cleansing gels on entering and exiting buildings and practice good hand hygiene.

“The health, safety and wellbeing of the public, our patients, communities, and staff across the organisation continues to remain our absolute priority.”

The most recent figures from NHS England show that WWL was caring for 47 patients with Covid-19 symptoms in the last week of April – down from 59 the week before.

And the number of beds at Wigan’s hospitals occupied by people who tested positive for Covid-19 decreased by 30 per cent in four weeks. At the beginning of the month there were 67.

The number of Covid patients hospitalised nationally decreased by 27 per cent during April, while the number on mechanical ventilators went down by 15 per cent.

The figures also show that 52 new Covid patients were admitted to hospital in Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust in the week to April 24. This was down from 70 in the previous seven days.

As far as fatalities are concerned, that same week at the end of April saw 12 deaths recorded in which the coronavirus strain listed as present although not necessarily the direct cause.

The latest available figures show that 1,257 Wigan borough people had died with Covid by April 27.

They were among 24,329 deaths recorded across the North West since the pandemic was declared. And a total of 151,680 deaths had been recorded throughout England by that date.

The local figures include anyone who died within 28 days of a positive test result for Covid-19, and whose usual residence was in Wigan.

Information on the updated visiting guidance can be found at www.wwl.nhs.uk.