Updated 28 July 2021.
Guidelines on staying in residence at Hospitalfield during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 public health situation, we have developed new guidelines and protocols for the residency programmes and stays at Hospitalfield.
These new ways of living and working together have been developed with the careful use of Scottish Government Guidelines and Advice with precedent from within the Artist Residency sector across Scotland and Europe, and the Hospitality sector across Scotland.
These are intended to support Hospitalfield to remain a safe place for artists to research, develop and make work. We have been conscious of maintaining the environments that make Hospitalfield an inspiring and supportive place for artists to live and work in.
The measures that we have put in place are based on the assumption that anyone here could be pre-symptomic or asymptomatic so we are asking everyone to participate in physical distancing, increased hygiene measures and being respectful of each other during this very different time that we are all navigating.
Staff will be on site from 9am-5pm, Monday – Friday, throughout your stay and will be available to contact outside of hours by mobile telephone provided to residents in advance of travel.
Preparing and Travelling
Please follow Scottish Government Guidelines before and during travel to Hospitalfield. Please minimise breaking up your journey to stay overnight on route and try to minimise the use of peak time public transport.
If you are showing symptoms of Covid-19, have a temperature, have a positive test result, or have come into contact with someone who has tested positive, please do not travel to Hospitalfield.
Please bring enough masks with you for each day. Masks will be worn on arrival, in the corridors and at indoor congregation points.
Please ensure that 1 day prior to arriving at Hospitalfield you have completed and returned your HOSPITALFIELD SELF DECLARATION FORM.
Please ensure that within 24 hours of arriving at Hospitalfield you have received a negative lateral flow or PCR test result.
Please also ensure you have brought with you rapid lateral flow tests for the duration of your stay, plenty of medication should you have to stay longer, a mobile telephone and a personal supply of hand sanitiser.
Testing
As a means of risk reduction, Hospitalfield are asking all residents, visitors, staff and third parties to participate in the self-administered rapid Covid testing Government schemes that have been set up across England and Scotland. This involves testing yourself twice weekly prior to, and throughout, and after your residency at Hospitalfield.
There is more information on the ScotGov website here.
For England here.
If you live in Wales or Ireland, and would like to participate in testing, please email info@hospitalfield.org.uk and we can post you tests in advance of your residency.
We ask that you test yourself 5 days prior to arrival and 24 hours prior to arrival and then twice weekly throughout your stay.
If you encounter a positive test, please let us know and we will be flexible about you arriving later or re-arranging your residency to a later date.
Arriving at Hospitalfield
When you arrive in Arbroath, we ask that you either take a taxi, a bus or walk to Hospitalfield. It is a twenty-five minute walk from the train station and it is a flat route. We’re not able to pick you up from the station.
When you arrive, a member of the team will meet you at the entrance and show you to your bedroom while wearing face coverings. We won’t come into your bedroom.
On arrival you will be given a tour of the rooms including where you will eat and where to get tea/coffee.
Moving around the House
You will notice ‘traffic priority’ systems in place in corridors. The general rule with the stairwells is, the person coming downstairs has right of way.
You are legally obliged to wear face coverings in the corridors and at indoor congregation points and if going into another person’s workspace. Please feel free to wear a mask at all times if this is preferable for you. The Hospitalfield Staff Team will be wearing masks when indoors throughout your stay.
There are sanitiser stations positioned across the house, please use these regularly.
Bedrooms and bathrooms
Everyone is allocated a bedroom and bathroom on arrival. These are your designated bathrooms.
There are two communal toilets on the ground floor which are used by staff and are regularly cleaned and sanitised.
Public Rooms
All the public rooms in the house will be open for you to look around or work in while you are here. If a room is being used by another resident to work in, please be respectful of physical distancing and not touching their workspace. You will be allocated work space(s) for the period of your residency. If at any point you would like to change your work space, you can have a chat with one of the management team to plan this.
Please ensure that 1m physical distancing is upheld in all spaces at Hospitalfield, including the Refectory and Café.
Room capacity has been formulated using Scottish Government guidance and the capacity for each of the public rooms at Hospitalfield is clearly signposted. All the rooms have signs indicating the capacity of each room. Please note this capacity and if there are too many people in the room, please do not enter until someone else has left.
Individual heaters are allocated to each bedroom and room. Please don’t move the heaters between rooms.
The Refectory for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
The Refectory is the room where you will have all your meals. Hospitalfield are operating the Refectory under the Scottish Government guidance for hospitality as this is where residents will eat and drink as a group. This guidance ensures physical distancing of 1m between each person. It is recommended that residents use the same seating arrangement in the Refectory throughout their stay.
This guidance also instructs that we manage the catering for residents as table service. All meals will be served to you at your table. When you have finished eating, please leave your plates on the tables by the kitchen door. Please leave any dirty cups or glasses on this table.
The Kitchen
The Kitchen is not accessible to residents. If you need to talk to Simon Brown (Chef and Catering Manager) or another member of kitchen staff, please knock on the door and speak to them at the entrance to the kitchen. If you need water, please fill up in the sink in Residents Kitchen, see below.
Residents’ Kitchen for Tea, Coffee, Water and Snacks
The Residents Kitchen is located just off the Refectory and is the place for residents to make tea and coffee water and snacks. This room is equipped with a kettle, microwave, sink and fridge. You will be shown this room on arrival. The room only has capacity for one resident at a time, so we would recommend that a system for communal tea and coffee breaks is initiated so that one person at a time is nominated to make refreshments for the group on each occasion while wearing a mask and undertaking careful hand hygiene.
We ask that you avoid eating in this room to maintain hygiene, please use the Refectory for eating.
This room will be regularly cleaned however there is also anti-virucidal spray on hand which staff and residents are invited to use to support the housekeeping team.
Eating on Weekends
Eating on weekends will be planned by Simon Brown with residents. The meals will be pre-prepared and will involve minimal cooking. One resident will be designated to use the Kitchen in order to heat up meals. There is a fridge in the resident’s kitchen where residents can keep food items.
On weekends, washing up is to be done by the House Keeping staff when they will come in after lunch.
Group Activity while at Hospitalfield
All of Scotland is at Level 0 Government restrictions. All Group Activity must follow the socialising activity that is set out by Scottish Government.
At Level 0:
- you can meet socially in groups of up to:
- of up to 8 people from 4 households in your home or theirs – and can stay overnight
- of up to 10 people from 4 households in an indoor public place like a café, pub or restaurant. Hospitality settings will be required to close at midnight
- of up to 15 people from 15 households outdoors
Hospitalfield will set up optional activity based on these guidelines.
Mutual Care and Understanding
While we’re all navigating these changing circumstances, we ask for generosity and understanding toward each other especially given everyone’s differing personal circumstances in relation to the pandemic. We ask you to carefully keep to the Scottish Government Guidelines while in residence to ensure each other’s enjoyment, peaceful working and safety.
If you become unwell while at Hospitalfield:
If you feel unwell at any time during your stay, and develop any of the COVID-19 symptoms, please notify a Hospitalfield Staff Member by phone. In accordance with Scottish Government guidelines, you should immediately self-isolate in your allocated bedroom and book a PCR test by phoning 0800 028 2816 or online. When you test negative, you can end isolation. If you keep on testing positive, you should continue to isolate, and the NHS Test and Protect team will be in touch to start contact tracing. If you need to isolate and you can travel home safely to isolate, avoiding the use of public transport, you should do this. Alternatively, you should isolate at Hospitalfield and we will do our best to support your needs. Plan ahead and bringing plenty of provisions.
After your residency
If you experience symptoms of Covid-19 and test positive within 10 days of your residency at Hospitalfield, please let us know by emailing info@hospitalfield.org.uk.