Whenever anyone has to go to hospital one of the key things to help them is having visits from friends, relatives and loved ones.

However with the coronavirus pandemic visitors to hospitals have been forced to stay away and unable to see their loved ones and provide them with the comfort they might need.

To combat this Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) set up a new messaging service called #stayconnected

This provided a dedicated email address where people can send messages, photographs and videos which can be passed on to those who are in hospital.

Those messages are then put into a card which is delivered to the patient – allowing them to keep in touch.

The service has proved to be such a success that hospital bosses say it will remain in place post-covid.

A meeting of the RCHT board this morning heard about the scheme and how it has been a success.

It heard that for a majority of patients not visiting is permitted in order to keep people safe. This is particularly an issue for elderly people who sometimes do not have mobile phones to keep in contact.

Since the #stayconnected programme was started more than 100 messages have been sent to the hospital and passed on to patients.

A video shown to the board meeting showed a patient receiving their card which contained photographs of their family and a message.

The emotional scenes showed just how important it was to receive the message and it was explained that the photos were then put up by their bed.

To help with the service Whistlefish donated 250 cards which have been used to send the messages to patients.

The board heard that the service had been “really well received” and that it was planned to keep it in place for the future.