Kilbryde Hospice is monitoring very closely the situation concerning the Covid 19 virus and we are in close contact with Public Health and NHS Lanarkshire. We are putting in place a risk assessment and contingency planning through our Business Continuity Team in the event of the outbreak becoming more widespread, guided by the public health information we are receiving. Our services are provided to many people in the hospice and the community and our hospice buildings are visited by many members of the public. It is very much business as usual at the present time in our services, our kafé and our community shops.

In line with Public Health’s advice, we do ask members of the public not to visit if they have recently visited any ‘Category 1’ country (China, in particular Hubei Province, Iran, South Korea and certain parts of Northern Italy) until such time as they have self-isolated for 14 days and/or have tested negative for Covid 19. There are a number of other countries which are deemed ‘Category 2’ (see link https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-specified-countries-and-areas/covid-19-specified-countries-and-areas-with-implications-for-returning-travellers-or-visitors-arriving-in-the-uk) where there have been some outbreaks and we ask members of the public to exercise discretion around visiting the hospice building, our shops and fundraising activities if they feel unwell and have one or more of the following – a cough, a high temperature or shortness of breath.

Our aim is to maintain all of our services and activity at an optimal level to ensure that we can support those patients and families who need us, whilst also continuing to raise the funds we need to sustain our services.

We will continue to share updates with you through our regular communication channels, such as our Facebook page, Twitter feed and our website. The latest general official information coming from NHS Inform can be found here. https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/coronavirus-covid-19

We continue to monitor the situation and will keep you up to date with any further developments.

Gordon McHugh

Chief Executive