• All mental health inpatient areas have open visiting with no time restriction
  • All acute hospital inpatient areas have open visiting from 2pm - 7pm.
  • All community hospitals have open visiting from 2pm - 4:30pm and 6pm - 7pm*
  • Women and children’s services (ward 15, ward 16, labour and Special Care Baby Unit) are adopting a person-centred approach led by the patient and family

*Visitors are asked not to visit community hospitals from 4:30pm - 6pm unless assisting a patient with their meal. 

Anyone wishing to visit out with the times noted above should contact the ward directly to discuss. We request that there are no more than two visitors per patient at any one time.

In the event of an outbreak of infection the local Incident Management Team (IMT) or Infection Prevention and Control Team may need to temporarily instate specific restrictions in areas to prevent spread and to protect patients, families and staff. This is normal practice for outbreak management. Even in these circumstances essential visits should be able to continue.

Some examples of essential visits are given below but this list is not exhaustive, and a flexible compassionate approach should always guide decision-making:

  • when someone is reaching the end of their life
  • if someone has dementia and needs family support
  • support for someone with a learning disability
  • a family member who has informal caring responsibilities
  • parents of a child in hospital
  • support during pregnancy and childbirth, including outpatient appointments, ante-natal and post-natal care
  • situations where someone is receiving life-changing information

If you are visiting our sites, please follow the guidance below:

Do not visit our facilities if you have the following symptoms:

  • • Continuous cough
  • • High temperature, fever or chills
  • • Loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell
  • • Unexplained tiredness or lack of energy
  • • Muscle aches or pains that are not due to exercise
  • • Headache that's unusual or longer lasting than usual
  • • Sore throat, stuffy or runny nose
  • • Diarrhoea
  • • Feeling sick or being sick
  • • New rash or skin condition
  • Do not visit our facilities if you have had symptoms of diarrhoea or vomiting in the previous 48 hours
  • Wear a face mask, if you are able to, in our facilities at all times
  • Ensure that you have had all of your Covid-19 vaccinations
  • Make use of the Lateral Flow Device (LFD) Covid-19 testing offer which is available to anyone in Scotland who is attending a hospital or care home
  • Follow any instructions given to you by signage or members of staff

Please note that restrictions may vary depending on circumstances – for example if there is a Covid-19 outbreak then restrictions in a particular ward or area may be necessary.