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Visiting Hours and Contacting Patients
The restrictions on hospital visitors have been eased, with the risk of COVID-19 being balanced against the needs of patients. The state government on hospital visitors can be found here: Hospital Visitors Direction No. 6.
Before you leave home
- It is recommended that you contact the hospital or ward directly to confirm their visitation rules and visiting hours, before leaving home. Call 4433 1111 and ask to be put through to the ward.
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Some critical care areas may have specific restrictions, including limiting visitor numbers
Visiting hours
For our health service facilities, except in instances of end-of-life care, the current directions from the chief health officer require that no more than two people can visit a patient at any one time. However, if those two people leave the patient, then two new people are then able to go to the patient’s bedside. The limit of two people visiting at a time is to stop large groups gathering, and to ensure they are able to physically distance during the visit. There is no longer a time limit on how long a visitor can stay and our visiting hours remain from 8am to 8pm.
More than two visitors continue to be allowed to provide end-of-life support to a patient.
You can visit a patient with one other person, for example, if:
- you are providing general care and support to a patient
- you are supporting a child and you are the child’s parent, guardian or carer
- you are visiting a person with a disability and you are the person’s carer or a support person
- you are supporting someone who needs to go to the emergency department or an outpatient care appointment
- you are supporting someone who is pregnant, in labour or visiting after birth
Visit with more than one other person if:
- you are providing end-of-life support for a patient.
Unless you are a patient, you cannot visit if:
- you have been diagnosed with COVID-19
- you have returned from overseas in the last 14 days
- you have been asked to self-quarantine
- you have had contact with a person with COVID-19 in the last 14 days
- you have a fever (37.5 degrees or more) or a cough, runny nose, sore throat or breathing difficulties.
More information can be found here.
Residential aged care facilities
Please note that for residential aged care facilities the following restrictions apply according to the latest Aged Care Direction (no. 8), effective from 30 July 2020.
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Care and support visits,other than an end of life visit, are limited to a maximum of two visitors at a time per resident. For end of life visits, more than two visitors may visit a resident at one time.
- If a person is attending a residential aged care facility to visit a resident, they must, to the extent reasonably practicable:
- practise physical distancing; and
- limit their contact with other persons at the facility.
A person must not enter, or remain on, the premises of a residential aged care facility if:
- during the 14 days immediately preceding the entry, the person arrived in Australia from a place outside Australia; or
- during the 14 days immediately preceding the entry, the person has been in a COVID-19 hotspot; or
- during the 14 days immediately preceding the entry, the person had known contact with a person who has a confirmed case of COVID-19; or
- the person has a temperature equal to or higher than 37.5 degrees or symptoms of acute respiratory infection; or
- the person does not have an up to date vaccination against influenza, if the vaccination is available to the person.
Example – the vaccination is not available to a person with a medical contraindication to the influenza vaccine
Contacting patients at Townsville University Hospital
Patients at Townsville University Hospital can be contacted by phoning the switchboard on (07) 4433 1111 and asking to be connected to their ward. Each patient has a telephone by their bedside.
Family and friends are encouraged to make direct contact with patients for information.
The phone number for the bedside telephone is: (07) 4433 followed by the ward area and the bed number. Ward areas are:
- Oncology, maternity and children's ward = 70
- Medical ward area = 71
- Surgical ward areas = 72
eg. bed 37 in surgical = (07) 4433 7237
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The Townsville Hospital and Health Service acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which our health facilities have been built. We pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging; and we value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and knowledge.