New service ensures Chesterfield hospital patients and loved ones are keeping in touch

The Letters To Loved Ones service has been launched by Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust, which runs both Walton Hospital Ash Green Learning Disability Centre.

MORE: Coronavirus: How many people have died at Chesterfield Royal Hospital and how many confirmed cases are there in Derbyshire?

As part of the initiative, families can share letters and photos via email to their loved ones on the wards.

Deborah Hall, head of patient experience and involvement at the trust, came up with the idea to create a Letters To Loved Ones service.

She said: “There is a risk to the well-being of patients on our wards and their families because restrictions on inpatient visiting make communication and contact more difficult, just at a time when they may need it more than ever.

“The email service enables patients to receive letters and photographs more easily.

“It has taken a bit of organising to make sure it is safe and secure.

“All emails come to a central point so we can ensure messages are properly directed and so ward staff are not directly managing the email service on top of their vital clinical care.”

Relatives and friends of inpatients at Walton Hospital and Ash Green Learning Disability Centre who would like to take part in the initiative can email [email protected], attaching their letter and pictures.

People should also provide their loved one’s full name and date of birth state which ward they are on.

MORE: How a Chesterfield charity is continuing to help people with relationship issues during lockdown