System launched to keep families in contact with patients at Peterborough City Hospital

The Trust has launched ‘letters to loved ones’ - an initiative to help family members and friends keep in touch with patients staying on wards at either Peterborough City, Hinchingbrooke and Stamford and Rutland Hospitals, despite not being able to visit.

Relatives can send get well messages and family photos via a dedicated email address. These messages will then be printed and handed to patients to read and keep.

Jo Bennis, Chief Nurse at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Peterborough City, Hinchingbrooke and Stamford and Rutland Hospitals, said: “We appreciate that this is a worrying time for families and we are doing everything we can to ensure they can keep in touch with their loved ones in hospital during the pandemic.”

“We hope that these messages will remind our patients that despite not being allowed visitors, they are not alone.”

Messages can be sent via email:[email protected] – please ensure your email includes the patient’s name, hospital name, the ward they are being cared for on and the bay they are in (if known).

Relatives are encouraged to use the email address. However, if you do not have an email address you can post your letter.

If your loved one is at either Peterborough City or Stamford and Rutland Hospitals, please address the letter to:

Letters For Loved Ones

Patient Experience Team

Dept. 418

Peterborough City Hospital

Bretton Gate

Peterborough

PE3 9GZ

If your loved one is at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, please address your letter to:

Letters For Loved Ones

Patient Experience Team

C/o Head of Patient Experience

Hinchingbrooke Hospital

Hinchingbrooke Park

Huntingdon

Cambridgeshire

Hospital staff will not be able to enter into discussions via the email address or provide return messages to families. Staff will also be skimming letters to ensure there is nothing inappropriate or aggressive towards patients.

Once the emails have been printed, they will be deleted from the email inbox to ensure no personal data is stored.