A PHONE line has been set up for families to check on their relatives in hospital while visiting is not allowed.

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board set up a temporary family liaison phone line on January 13 after seeing an increase in calls directly to wards from family members.

The phone line allows clinical staff working on the wards to focus on caring for patients, the health board said.

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The staff manning the phone lines are based at The Grange University Hospital, Nevill Hall Hospital and the Royal Gwent Hospital, however, they cover all hospitals in the health board area.

They can provide non-clinical information back to families, and can also link families to the nursing team when clinical information was asked for.

A spokeswoman said: "This phone line was set up as a response to the rising number of telephone calls to our wards, due to the Covid pandemic restricting visiting.

"We also recognised the significant pressures on clinical teams whose priorities were to maintain direct patient care and therefore the challenge was to find a solution that would bridge the gap between the patient, the ward and the relatives.

"This is a temporary measure whilst there is further recruitment and training of ward clerks who traditionally take responsibility for telephony on the wards."

During the first month, the service has received 742 calls.

There is also an answering machine so that callers can leave a message and expect a response within three hours of the start of the next working shift. This information will include the likely timescale for a return call to be made if the enquiry is of a clinical nature.

The phone numbers are as follows:

  • Royal Gwent Hospital, St Woolos and Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr – 01633 234748
  • Nevill Hall Hospital and Ystrad Aneurin Bevan – 01873 733016
  • The Grange University Hospital, County Community Hospital and Chepstow Community Hospital – 01633 493626