"Mother still in heartlands, Went ..."

The safety and wellbeing of all our patients is our absolute top priority at all times. Taking each of your points in turn: -

Unfortunately, during outbreaks of Norovirus (also known as the 'winter sickness bug') it is sometimes necessary to restrict visiting or even close wards. We only close wards to visitors as a last resort to avoid the risk of very poorly patients being exposed to other viruses that may be accidentially brought in by visitors to our wards from outside the hospital. This is usually only for a few days afterwhich the ward reopens.

We accept it is difficult to cater to everyone's taste and have developed an award winning menu to provide a balanced diet to our patients. Should you mother find the food not to her taste, please encourage her to speak with Ward staff who will do their utmost to accommodate.

The Trust has extremely strict guidelines on the use of drips and monitors this closely. The tube (often fed into a vein on the back of a patient's hand) may be left in for up to 72 hours (3 days) and is visually inspected and recorded during this time by clinical staff. Fluid bags may take anything from 20 minutes to several hours to empty and there is no risk to the patient if this is not changed immediately.