Visiting restrictions at Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore due to respiratory viral illnesses

Visiting to the Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore has been restricted on all wards with immediate effect.

The restrictions are due to a high number of patients with respiratory viral illnesses, such as Influenza, and recent increase in NVR – winter vomiting bug which appears to be circulating in the community.

As a precautionary measure, visiting restrictions have been implemented across all hospital departments to help reduce the spread of the virus within the healthcare setting.

Compassionate and critical visits in exceptional circumstances only will be accommodated by contacting the Clinical Nurse Manager or Nurse in Charge of the relevant ward: If visiting due to exceptional circumstances patients can only have one visitor for 30 minutes at a time. These measures will be kept under regular review.

The hospital apologises for any inconvenience caused and thanks the public for their understanding and cooperation.

Louisea Burke, General Manager of Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore, said: “We have implemented significant visiting restrictions in all areas to help keep our patients and staff safe from respiratory viral illnesses, such as Influenza, Covid, RSV and Norovirus (Winter Vomiting bug) which are all currently circulating in the community.

"We kindly remind the public to only visit the hospital if you are symptom-free from flu or other respiratory illnesses. Please refer to the HSE website for specific information and regular updates.”

Where possible, the management at Regional Hospital Tullamore is asking patients with non-emergency conditions to seek assistance from other parts of the health service such as their local Pharmacy, GP, GP out of hours service, or a local injury unit.

For the most up-to-date guidelines on visiting patients, please visit: https://www2.hse.ie/services/hospitals/midland-regional-hospital-tullamore/

You can visit http://www.hse.ie/injuryunits to find your nearest injury unit and their opening hours. If you require urgent medical attention out of hours, you can visit https://www2.hse.ie/services/find-a-gp-out-of-hours/