Virtual visiting helping patients and families stay in touch on Wrexham hospital ward

Kind-hearted staff on a ward in the Wrexham Maelor Hospital have set up virtual visiting through Skype to ensure their patients stay connected with their families.

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 all hospitals across Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board now have restricted visiting times.

To ensure patients are still able to stay in contact with their loved ones, staff on Morris Ward, who care for the most elderly patients in the hospital, set up a Skype account for their ward.

Dementia Support Worker, Emma Jayne Walsh, said: “When the visiting restrictions came in to place we wanted to make sure our patients were still able to stay in touch with their families as much as possible.

“On our ward we have many elderly patients, and many of those are living with dementia, so it’s really important they keep that contact with their families.

“Many of the visitors to our ward are also elderly so we knew with the new restrictions in place this would make it difficult for them to come in as well.

“We decided as a team to set up a Skype account for our ward and it has been really beneficial for our patients.

“We have had great feedback from the families and it means that our patients keep that visual contact which is extremely important for them.

“There are other wards across the health board who are now looking into this which is great news as I’m sure it will really help families to keep in touch.”

From Wednesday, 19 March all visits to patients have been restricted to 15 minutes at our main hospitals, mental health wards and community hospitals. Visits will be restricted between 2pm – 4pm and 6pm – 7.30pm.

Only one visitor per patient will be allowed, and children under the age of 16 will no longer be able to visit the ward areas.