Main reception: 0161 206 8781
Salford Switchboard: 0161 789 7373
Critical Care Unit, Level 3, Hope Building, Salford Royal Hospital, Stott Lane. M6 8HD
Our visiting times are 2pm – 8pm, with a quiet hour 4 – 5pm, maximum of 2 family members at the bedside at any time.
Individual patient circumstances may require flexibility to these times and/or number of visitors.
Getting to the hospital
The hospital is easily access via the road network and public transport options within Greater Manchester.
The Trust website has detailed information on the different travel options.
Car parking information is also available and is regularly updated.
Visiting the unit
To keep the unit safe and allow us to deliver the best possible care to our patients we have to have some protocols around visiting. These are there for your benefit and the wellbeing of all patients, visitors and staff.
We ask that you do not visit the unit if you have had infection symptoms that might cause a risk to other patients or relatives. Please discuss this with staff if you have any doubts.
We generally don’t encourage children to visit but please discuss this with staff on the unit.
When entering the unit, we ask that you take off your coat and other outside clothing and hang them up on the pegs provided in the unit. It’s fine to leave hats on if they are worn for religious reasons. You should then wash and dry your hands and apply the disinfectant gel that is next to the sink.
You should not eat or drink on the critical care unit and your mobile phone should be switched off or it should be on silent mode. It’s fine to eat and drink and use your phone in the visitors’ room but please tidy up and don’t leave litter in the room. Please use your phone in a way that is considerate to other visitors who may be extremely upset.
You must not take any photos in the critical care unit.
Any visitor who is abusive to staff, patients or other visitors risks permanent exclusion from the hospital and criminal prosecution. The hospital has a team of security guards and Police officers are normally present in the emergency department that is immediately below the Critical Care unit.
Why do we have restricted visiting hours?
Having open visiting all day is tiering for patients and restricts the ability of the staff to deliver patient care. Previous experience of having relatives present during the morning ward round suggested that relatives of other patients were listening to what was being said and then reporting misinformation to the patient’s own relatives. Open visiting was also a burden to some relatives who became exhausted from spending too much time at the patient’s bedside.
Are we flexible about these visiting hours?
Yes, there are many situations where the restrictions to visiting are inappropriate. These include where patients are very young, where they have special needs or where they are becoming confused. In these situations, the support of relatives is particularly helpful. Relatives can also be very helpful where English is not the patient’s first language. You may need to suggest to the nurse looking after your relative that you may be able to help in these situations.
We are also happy to change the visiting times if your work or other commitments make the set times difficult for you, again please let the staff know.
Visiting hours restrictions are also removed when it is clear that the patient is dying or where relatives have particular problems getting to the hospital during normal visiting times.
Sometimes there are problems where we are not consistent in how we apply these rules, as this is often a matter of judgement; if you are unhappy ask to speak to the nurse in charge.
Why are we restrictive about how many relatives are around the bed area and why can only close friends and relatives can visit?
This is firstly for practical reasons, there is a limited space around the bed areas and staff have to be able to access the patients to look after them. There is also a limited capacity in the visitors’ rooms to accommodate large family groups.
Secondly there are issues of confidentiality. When we speak to patients who have recovered, they were often unhappy that more distant members of the family had seen them when they were unconscious or confused.
Are we flexible about the numbers of visitors?
When patients are dying, we allow more relatives around the bed area and we try and provide some privacy by moving the patient into a side room.
In some families there are strong cultural reasons why large family groups come to the relatives’ room. In this case we ask that most family members wait in the main concourse of the Hope Building. If you feel intimidated or under pressure from other family groups, please tell the receptionist or the shift leader.
Why am I not allowed to take pictures on the unit?
Many patients are often not well enough to consent to allow their photo to be taken or to be included in the background of any photos. Staff also do not want to be included, even in the background, of any photos.
Why do I have to turn my phone off or on silent mode on the critical care unit?
The unit is already very noisy due to the machines on the unit and the care the needs to be provided. Patients need a calm and restful environment to allow them the best chance of recovery.
Phoning the unit
The unit phone number is 0161 206 8781 and this number should be used for patient enquiries.
Information about phoning the unit
Getting through
The number above will get you through to the ICU ward clerk and they will either give you an update of your relative’s condition or they will transfer you to the phone at your relative’s bed so that you can speak to the nurse looking after your relative.
When the clerk is not there you will hear an answer phone message giving you the option of entering the patient’s bed number. This will connect your call to the bed area phone and the nurse should answer. There may be some delay if the nurse is involved in giving care that is difficult to interrupt.
Who can phone?
Phone calls will distract the staff from providing care for your relative and for this reason we ask that only immediate next of kin phone. We would then ask that you communicate any information to other friends and family yourself. If you are not an immediate relative or carer please don’t phone the unit as your call will distract from patient care.
When can I phone?
You can phone the unit any time if you are an immediate relative. Relatives often wake in the middle of the night and need to be reassured that nothing has changed. There are doctors and nurses looking after your relative all day and night.
Why do we set up passwords?
When people phone they can pretend to be someone else. Many patients are admitted following road traffic accidents or alleged assaults. The Police will set up a password for these patients. For other patients, if the patient or next of kin do not want other people phoning they can ask staff to setup password. Information would then only be given to people who knew the password. We would suggest that you don’t speak to the press about your relative’s condition.
What will I be told about my relative’s condition over the phone?
We are reluctant to give detailed information over the phone. This is because we can’t be sure who is on the other end of the phone. It is also because a lot of the information about patients is very complicated and often upsetting. This kind of information is much better communicated face to face.
Could we ever make a mistake about what we say over the phone?
The staff are not perfect and we can all make mistakes. It’s possible that staff may get muddled as to which set of relatives they are speaking to. In this circumstance it’s possible that we could give information about the wrong patient. It’s also possible that a staff member may answer the phone who may not know about a very recent change in the patient’s condition. A member of staff answering the phone may also not know that there is a password setup and could give information out that isn’t appropriate.
Staff are warned about being very careful not to make these errors and they are very rare. Confidentiality is an important topic in staff mandatory training.