Visiting restrictions enforced at University Hospital Galway due to the presence of Norovirus

The Emergency Department in University Hospital Galway is extremely busy this morning with significant numbers of patients awaiting admission to the hospital. Five wards have now been closed to admissions due the presence of Norovirus (Winter Vomiting Bug) which has further limited our capacity. We apologise to patients and their families for these delays.

Due to the current large burden of Norovirus infections in the hospital, University Hospital Galway advises that further visiting restrictions will now apply in all wards in the main hospital block with visitors only permitted for critically ill patients or in exceptional circumstances. For visitors to critically unwell patients, visiting 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.

The Paediatric and Maternity wards remain unaffected by Norovirus at present and the visiting restrictions do not currently apply to these areas.

We have implemented the Full Capacity Protocol and all efforts are being made to identify patients who are appropriate for discharge. We have also deferred non urgent elective procedures. 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.

The hospital is recommending members of the public, who are experiencing these symptoms, to first phone their local GP before presenting at the local practice. 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 

The hospital thanks the public for their cooperation.