Visiting restrictions in University Hospital Limerick and Ennis Hospital are being partially relaxed with immediate effect, as part of the ongoing management of recent outbreaks of COVID-19 in those hospital sites.
Advice from the Group’s Outbreak Control Teams means that visiting can resume on all almost all inpatient wards at UHL, and on the Burren Ward at Ennis Hospital.
For now, visiting restrictions remain in place on Ward 1D and the Trauma Ward in UHL, and on the Fergus Ward in Ennis Hospital, where the management of outbreaks of COVID-19 continues.
In a statement this afternoon, UL Hospitals Group said: “While we welcome the partial resumption of visiting in UHL and Ennis, we ask people who visit our hospitals to adhere to the basic public health safeguards that help prevent the transmission of COVID-19 in healthcare settings.
Visitors are required to wear a facemask, which will be made available at hospital entrances, observe hand hygiene, complete a COVID-19 questionnaire, and have their temperature checked at hospital entrances.”
Visiting hours in our hospitals are from 2pm to 4pm and 6pm to 8pm every day, and visits must be booked through our online booking system. Ward staff will be able to help visitors with any queries about this system.
In Nenagh and in the areas of UHL and Ennis that remain subject to access restrictions, exceptions are made on a case-by-case basis for people assisting confused patients, for example, patients with dementia, and on compassionate grounds for patients who are critically ill or at end-of-life.
“We regret any inconvenience the remaining restrictions cause for inpatients and their loved ones. Hospital management has decided that it is necessary to restrict visiting in the affected areas at UHL, Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals in the interests of patient and staff safety and keeping essential services open for all patients.
We wish to reassure patients and their loved ones that all appropriate infection control precautions are being followed to minimise the risk of spreading infection among staff and patients within our health facilities, and also within the wider community,” the spokesperson said.