Cold and flu advice for visitors to hospital | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

Cold and flu advice for visitors to hospital

The Southern Trust is urging the public that if they, or anyone in their household, have symptoms of cold, flu or other chest conditions not to visit hospitals or other health and care facilities unless absolutely necessary.

Dr John Simpson, the Trust’s Medical Director, says that incidents of people with symptoms of illness visiting hospitals and passing on infections to patients on a ward are not uncommon.

“The Southern Trust has some of the lowest levels of infection in Northern Ireland,” says Dr Simpson.

“Our staff have stringent infection control measures in place but they really need public support to help keep our vulnerable patients safe. I know that we can count on the local population to support our staff to give patients the best possible care and to assist us in our continued drive against infection.”

He added that family and friends want to visit loved ones when they are in hospital. “Our patients tell us that and that they are greatly comforted by visits from their family and friends.

“Our priority is on keeping our patients safe and there are times when we must restrict visiting to allocated times and ask visitors to help us provide a caring environment.

“We have excellent signage both inside and outside our hospitals reminding visitors to follow a few steps when visiting the hospital that will greatly reduce the spread of infections to vulnerable patients,” he added.

Short URL: https://newrytimes.com/?p=47084

Posted by on Dec 1 2014. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Leave a Reply







Find us on Facebook

Log in | Designed by Gabfire themes