New 'one visitor per patient rules' for Tweed hospitals
Restrictions for people wanting to visit patients in hospital in the Tweed will be tightened tomorrow
Tweed Heads
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RESTRICTIONS for people wanting to visit patients in hospital in the Tweed will be tightened tomorrow.
Northern NSW Local Health District, which stretches from Tweed Heads to Grafton, will be a limit of one visitor per patient in all hospitals from Friday.
NNSWLHD chief executive Wayne Jones said the revised visitor restrictions and screening for people coming to hospitals was in light of the most recent social distancing requirements.
"Visitors will need to be identified by the patient in consultation with their family or carer, the visits will be in the patients room and be limited to one hour only, once per day," he said.
"The visiting hours have also been restricted to 1pm to 6pm daily." Mr Jones said when entering a facility, as a precautionary measure, visitors will be asked:
- "Have you returned from overseas in the past 14 days?"
- "Have you had close contact with a person confirmed or suspected to have COVID-19?"
- "Are you feeling unwell with any flu-like symptoms?"
Anyone answering yes to any of these questions will not be allowed to enter.
Mr Jones said a patient's designated visitor will be provided with detailed information regarding social distancing and must adhere to all personal protective and hand hygiene requirements already in place when on site.
"The designated visitor will be screened prior to each visit," he said.
"The current restrictions in Maternity/Women's Care Units and Birthing Suites remain at one support person per birth, with no other visitors while in hospital.
"Multi-Purpose Services have their own restrictions which are one designated visitor once per day for 15 minutes.
"We accept that these measures may cause concern for some patients and community members, but the restrictions are in place to protect our hospital system, our patients, our staff and the wider community, especially those in vulnerable age groups.
"We encourage everyone to continue with social distancing and isolation measures, and thank our community for their vigilance to date.
"Visitors, carers and family members should speak with the nurse in charge about any extenuating circumstances."
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