Visitors *** Winter Update **** From 8am Monday 15 December 2025 NHS Lothian is taking some urgent precautions to help protect patients and staff against flu this winter. Visitors are still very welcome in hospitals, but NHS Lothian is asking you to help minimise the risk of transmission between the community and hospital to protect some of the most vulnerable patients. Relatives and friends are being asked not to visit if they have a temperature, flu-like symptoms or any vomiting or diarrhoea symptoms. From 8am on Monday December 15, please reduce the numbers of visitors to one or two, and where possible not to bring children under the age of 12 into hospital for visiting. Visitors and those attending hospital for outpatient appointments are also being encouraged to consider wearing a mask or face covering, and use the hand gel provided. Thank you for your support. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ We value families, carers and friends as part of our team and welcome you into our wards and departments. NHS Lothian believe that patients’ families, carers and friends have an important role to play as part of the care team. To make sure we support this, we aim to move away from ‘visiting’ to ‘welcoming’, which promotes a more flexible approach to how we work together and deliver what matters to people. We welcome you to: Visit the ward as much as your family member or friend would like you to Be with your family member or friend during planned and unplanned visits to hospital Participate in as much of the care of your family member or friend as they would like Assist at mealtimes. We recognise that eating is a social event and we appreciate the support of relatives and carers during this time. Please remember that patients can be very vulnerable to infection and that we therefore ask you to avoid visiting if you yourself are ill or have been unwell within the past 24 hours with any of the following: Sore throat, cough, or a raised temperature fever Nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea
