We know how important it is for patients and families to be able to see visitors. Please help us keep our patients and staff as safe as possible by checking the guidance below before you visiting.
Read more on visiting times...
We recognise the impact that a long stay in hospital can have on families and the importance of maintaining strong communication. Our ward staff are keeping in touch with patients’ next of kin directly and our Voluntary Services team can help pass on personal messages from family and friends.
After suspending visiting earlier in the year, we are now able to offer limited visiting to some wards at the discretion of the nurse in-charge.”
Read more on visiting times...
We recognise the impact that a long stay in hospital can have on families and the importance of maintaining strong communication. Our ward staff are keeping in touch with patients’ next of kin directly and our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can help pass on personal messages from family and friends.
The Queen Alexandra Hospital is located just on the hill slopes of Portsdown Hill overlooking Portsmouth. It is conveniently situated for both the M27 and A3M.
Family members and carers play an important role in supporting patients during an episode of ill health. We are committed to the active involvement of family members, friends and carers during a hospital stay. Family members and carers play an important role in supporting patients during an episode of ill health.
More information on visiting hospital for an appointment.
If you've had experience of using our services and would like to make a comment then please contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). Your views are very important to us and we would like to hear where you think improvements are needed or where things have gone so well that you would like to share your thanks or gratitude with the staff involved. When things have not gone so well then you can be sure that we want to hear from you, so please get in touch with PALS.
During your stay in hospital you will meet a number of different members of staff. All members of staff wear name badges, but if you are not sure who someone is or what they do, please feel free to ask them to introduce themselves and explain what they do.
If you have any questions about your treatment, please ask a doctor or a nurse.
There are lots of opportunities for you to get involved with the Trust, from volunteering to attending our public meetings, our Annual General Meeting or our hospital open day which is held every year.
We welcome and value your feedback and use the views you share with us in a number of ways to learn and make improvements as well as sharing best practice. Feedback can be provided in a number of ways.
Date: 19 April 2023
A nurse from Portsmouth has helped to set up a new support group for women who have experienced baby loss or miscarriage after she experienced a lack of emotional support after her own loss.
Sarah Reynolds, Oncology Day Unit Nurse at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, experienced her miscarriage a year ago, and said that she couldn’t find a local support network to help her.
Sarah, 30, from Cosham, struggled to find in-person support and took to online groups for help and advice, which to her felt impersonal. Using her experience, she wanted to start a local group for women who have been through similar situations, where women can meet up and share how they feel about the often taboo subject with sympathetic companions.
With the help of the Early Pregnancy team at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, the group will run once a month to offer a safe space for women who have been through a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, or medical termination.
Sarah, who is married to husband Alex, said: “Society expects you to have a miscarriage and then go straight back to work, but people forget that you’re bereaved. People need to know that I’m not going to be okay for a while and that’s why the group is so important.
“I can’t believe how lonely my experience was. Even though my miscarriage was a year for me now, I still have so much unresolved trauma because I had no one to talk to. I think the new group will so be valuable, where we can all share our experiences and not feel so lonely.”
Statistics show that one in four pregnancies will end with a miscarriage, with the chance increasing to one in two for those aged over the age of 40.
Clinical Nurse Specialist Jane Lyndon, from the Early Pregnancy team, added: “This new group will offer women that much needed support and allow them to speak to others in the same situation. Miscarriage can be a devastating experience - it is a different kind of loss. This can be hard for others to understand and relate to. Sarah has been instrumental in helping to start the support group which will hopefully help Sarah and other parents who experience this loss.”
The monthly group will launch on Wednesday 7 June at Cosham Community Centre, PO6 3AP. The drop-in informal group sessions will be every first Wednesday of the month between 7pm and 9pm. Associate Nurse Specialist Margaret West will be running the group alongside one other member of the Early Pregnancy team.
If you have any queries, please contact the Early Pregnancy Unit 02392 283290.
For more information about miscarriage and pregnancy loss, visit: Miscarriage - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
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