For visitors

A stay in hospital can be a daunting time for anyone whether it is for a short or long time. But having someone with you can help you recover and make you feel more at ease.

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust welcomes visitors to the hospital and believes they play an important role in a patients' recovery. Below and on the adjoining pages of this section you can find helpful advice to make your visit as easy as possible. 

Visiting Hours

Visiting hours throughout the hospital are 2pm until 5pm and then 6.30pm until 8.30pm. However in specialist areas such as Maternity, Paediatrics, Critical Care and the Emergency Department, the visiting times can vary so make sure you check with the nurse in charge soon after you arrive.  We try to be as flexible as possible, but the interests of medical care must come first.

Rest is an essential part of the patient’s recovery process and we therefore ask visitors to try to keep to a guide of about two persons per visit.  We kindly also ask that visitors try to avoid making too much noise as this may disturb other patients and children are accompanied by an adult. If you are suffering or recovering from any infectious illnesses such as diarrhoea, vomiting, coughs, colds or flu we would ask you not to visit until you have properly recovered.

Gifts can do a lot to cheer up a patient.  Stuffed toys, books and games are terrific items to give a patient. Balloons, of course, can brighten a room but for safety reasons, we would only allow mylar balloons into the hospital. All latex balloons are prohibited. We would also strongly advise against visitors bringing flowers into the hospital due to infection control reasons.

Car Parking

If you are arriving by car please only use the visitors' car parking areas which are accessible from Southampton Road (A27) and clearly signposted. To find out more about where to park your car click here and click on either Queen Alexandra Hospital or St Mary's Hospital.

Wheelchairs

For those who need wheelchairs they are available at various locations around the hospital including the main and north entrances and in the multi-story car park. Patients have to insert a pound coin to release the wheelchair from a 'train' of other wheelchairs. You will be able to reclaim that pound coin when you return the wheelchair to the 'train', thus there is no charge to use them.

For more information about our visitor facilities use the links on the left.