Vomiting bug outbreak causing capacity issues at UHG

Siobhan Holliman

Published: Thu 5 May 2016, 10:50 AM

Last updated: Thu 5 May 2016, 11:52 AM

FIVE wards are now closed to admissions at University Hospital Galway due to the winter vomiting bug (norovirus).

The Emergency Department at UHG is also extremely busy today with significant numbers of patients awaiting admission to the hospital. Hospital management is apologising to patients and their families for the delays.

Strict visiting restrictions are in place throughout the hospital in an effort to curb the contagious bug which has put increased pressure on capacity at the hospital.

Visiting is being further restricted and the only visitors allowed will be those for critically ill patients or in exceptional circumstances. The Paediatric and Maternity wards remain unaffected by Norovirus at present and the visiting restrictions do not currently apply to these areas.

The hospital says visits to critically unwell patients should be arranged in consultation with the ward manager. These new visiting restrictions have been implemented to allow the hospital to contain the outbreak and to prevent the risk of cross infection. The hospital will review the situation daily and will lift visiting restrictions as soon as it is safe to do so.

“We would appreciate the public’s support and compliance with these restricted visiting rules. Children should not visit the hospital as they may be particularly susceptible to the illness,” said a spokesperson.

Full capacity protocol has been implemented in the hospital and non-urgent elective procedures have also been cancelled.

“We apologise to patients for the distress this deferral may cause. We would like to remind the public to visit the Emergency Department only in the case of real emergencies and advise people to contact their GP or GP Out-of-Hours service in the first instance. Once again we apologise to patients for these delays.”

Patients with pre-planned hospital appointments such as outpatients who have not had any symptoms of vomiting or diarrhoea should attend their appointment as normal, unless otherwise advised by the hospital.