Kind-hearted staff have set up virtual visiting through Skype to ensure their patients stay connected with their families.

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 all hospitals across Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board now have restricted visiting.

To ensure elderly patients are still able to stay in contact with their loved ones, staff on Morris Ward, at Wrexham Maelor  set up a Skype account for their ward. It is expected that many local Betsi Cadwaladr hospitals may follow Wrexham's lead.

Dementia Support Worker, Emma Jayne Walsh, said: “When the visiting restrictions came in to place we wanted to make sure our patients were still able to stay in touch with their families as much as possible.

“On our ward we have many elderly patients, and many of those are living with dementia, so it’s really important they keep that contact with their families.

“Many of the visitors to our ward are also elderly so we knew with the new restrictions in place this would make it difficult for them to come in as well.

“We decided as a team to set up a Skype account for our ward and it has been really beneficial for our patients.

“We have had great feedback from the families and it means that our patients keep that visual contact which is extremely important for them.

“There are other wards across the Health Board who are now looking into this which is great news as I’m sure it will really help families to keep in touch.”