Link: eircom net
HOSPITALS have been urged to restrict visiting hours in a bid to clean up their act and fight infections.
Health Minister Mary Harney said the practice of people visiting hospital from early morning until late at night was putting pressure on staff, patients and infection controlmeasures.
Speaking in Dublin at a Clean Hospital Summit – a conference on combating infections – she cited the case of one group coming on a visit with a McDonald’s takeaway. Stephen McMahon, of the Irish Patients’ Association, joint organisers of the conference, said last week he was contacted by a patient who needed treatment but left A&E because they were unhappy with standards of hygiene.
He also deplored reports that ‘MRSA’ was written in a sign over a patient’s bed in a Dublin hospital.
