The Isle of Wight and the rest of the England are now back in a full national lockdown. 

Keeping you safe during your visit is very important and due to rising cases of Covid-19, we have made some changes to visiting our Inpatient Unit. It will now be limited to:

• The same two visitors as designated by the patient.
• The two designated visitors are the only visitors allowed during the duration of the patients stay. (to minimise any risk, we are not able to allow different visitors each day)
• The two designated visitors are permitted to visit the IPU once per day, so we can reduce the amount of people coming in and out of IPU.

We must all ensure that we are adhering to the latest government guidance.

Anyone travelling from the mainland to visit a patient at Mountbatten must call ahead, on 01983 529511, and ask to speak with the nurse in charge. We ask that you do not turn up at the hospice without this being pre-arranged.

Your support in following these changes will ensure that you and your loved ones are protected. Your support also means that our staff and volunteers can keep well, so they can still be here to give care and support to you and your loved one. Thank you.

Before your visit  

You will already know from the government that anyone experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus should stay at home and self-isolate. Our patients are among the most poorly and this means we must do all we can to minimise the risk.

Help us keep everyone safe by not visiting if you, or any of the people you live with, have any of the following symptoms:  

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature) 
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual) 
• a loss of, or change, in smell or taste 

If you have experienced any of these symptoms, you should take a Covid test. Please do not visit Mountbatten until you receive a negative test result and you are clear of symptoms. You can find out more about this at https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Keeping in contact with your loved one

You will be able to keep in contact with your loved one, even if you cannot visit our hospice and need to stay at home. Our team can offer to support with making video calls, so that you can both see and hear your loved one. If you are unsure about how this works, our team can provide a user guide which gives simple instructions. 

We will do our very best to make sure that we have a staff member and equipment available for you to use this service; please call us first on 01983 529511 so that we can arrange a suitable time.

We are here to support you through this challenging time, which may include talking to someone about the changes to the way you can visit a loved one. You can contact our 24/7 Keep Connected Helpline - at any time of the day or night - on (01983) 533331. We are here to help you through this difficult time.