Weston General Hospital has re-opened to accept new patients this week but its A&E will remain shut until the end of next week following a number of confirmed Coronavirus cases.
The hospital – which is used by many people in the Burnham-On-Sea area – says it is now starting to receive patients who, due to the temporary closure, were initially admitted to neighbouring hospitals for their care and treatment.
In addition, the hospital is restarting a number of clinics – and patients do not need to call the hospital because they will be contacted to confirm arrangements for them to attend their appointment.
Work continues to re-open A&E as soon as possible and the aim is for this to be by the end of next week.
Dr William Oldfield, medical director at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our absolute priority remains the safety of our patients and our staff, and there are strict criteria in place that must be met before we accept new patients into our hospital.”
“We have deep cleaned and appropriately zoned the hospital and social distancing measures are in place in line with national guidance. We have enough staff to safely operate services and they have all been tested, at least twice, or completed recommended isolation periods, to confirm that they do not have coronavirus infection.”
“We have tested all current inpatients for coronavirus infection and this has shown no new cases in our non-COVID wards since the temporary measures were introduced. This indicates no in-hospital transmission of infection and clearly demonstrates that the actions we have taken are working, thus ensuring our patients and staff remain as safe as possible.”
“All of this means that we can begin to re-open services in a carefully planned and phased way from today, and we are now taking patients back into our care from our neighbouring Trusts, and contacting our patients to arrange appointments as individual clinics reopen.”
“Reaching this stage has only been possible because of the hard work and commitment of our staff during this exceptionally challenging time and the support of partner organisations.”
He adds: “Thanks to everyone’s continued efforts we have been able to maintain high standards of care for those patients who have remained at the hospital throughout this period.”
“The support of our partner organisations has meant that patients have continued to have access to the care and treatment they need in other healthcare settings, and this remains in place whilst we work to reopen our A&E department.”
“We would also like to thank the people of Weston-super-Mare and the surrounding areas for their patience and understanding as we have worked to reopen their hospital.”
