Visitor Restrictions

VISITORS effective from 19 November 2021                  

Visiting is still heavily restricted.

Not every patient can have visitors. 

There is a limit to the number of visits permitted each day. 

All visits must be pre-arranged with the Ward – visits are by appointment only. 

No visitors are permitted into health care settings, except if they meet the following requirements: 

General wards (except 2GP): 

• A patient can only have 1 visiting session per 24hrs, and a maximum of 2 (two) visitors during that session    
• Visitors must be aged 16 years or older  
• HOWEVER visitors are only permitted if: 
  • you are the parent, guardian or carer of a child who is a patient in hospital.  
  • you are providing support that is necessary for the patient's emotional or physical wellbeing (including mental health support and support for people living with dementia).   
  • you are a nominated person under the Mental Health Act 
  • you are providing interpreter or informal language support to enable the delivery of care by the care team  
  • you are learning to support the patient's care upon discharge.   
  • you are the carer of a patient with a disability.  
  • A patient whose medical condition is life threatening can have visitors.     
  • A patient attending an emergency department or outpatient clinic can have someone accompany them if it is necessary for them to do so.   

End of life  

A patient who is dying and/or receiving end-of-life care can have visitors.   

All visits must be pre-arranged with the Ward – by appointment only. 

Maternity / Labour / Special Care Nursery            

Maternity, Antenatal, and Postnatal patients are permitted:  

• One (1) support person who is also their labour support person  

Patients on the labour ward are permitted:  

• One (1) support person, and there is no time limit on the length of the labour support person’s visit.   

Special Care Nursery and Cotton On Children's Ward:  

• Visitors can be the two (2) parents OR one (1) parent and one (1) support person. An additional visitor is permitted during visiting hours, with no more than two persons at any time. The support person must be over the age of 18 years.  

2GP / ED Respiratory Marquee 

• Patients in our COVID and SCOVID wards are not permitted to have visitors for any reason.    
• All patients will be assisted to communicate with family. 

Families, friends and carers are encouraged to coordinate their visits with each other to ensure they are adhering to restrictions, and to contact the Ward if they are unclear on what to do.  

To make an appointment to visit, call: 03 5320 4000

At the entrance to the hospital, visitors will be required to:

• Check-in with QR Code 
• Answer questions asked by the entrance screeners 
• Confirm that you have a pre-booked appointment 
• Have your temperature taken by the entrance screeners 
• Show your vaccination certificate – if you are not vaccinated you must: 
  • wear an N95 mask (which will be supplied) 
  • wear eye protection - either face shield or goggles (which will be supplied) 
  • If you do not consent to wearing this additional PPE you will not be permitted to visit the patient 

PATIENTS – We will need to closely monitor any patients attending or admitted to Ballarat Health Services, who have visited a known COVID-19 exposure site

ACCESS

In order to keep our patients and others safe during this time of increased concern, we are asking members of our community to think carefully about your need to visit BHS sites.  If you do need to attend please note that:

• Entry is only through the Gardiner Pittard foyer entrance via either Drummond Street or the hospital car park.
• The Sturt Street entrance is only for BRICC oncology patients.
• The Emergency Department entrance is only for Emergency Department patients. 

Please continue to follow signs and directions regarding access as these continue to change.

VISITORS effective from 19 November 2021                  

Visiting is still heavily restricted.

Not every patient can have visitors. 

There is a limit to the number of visits permitted each day. 

All visits must be pre-arranged with the Ward – visits are by appointment only. 

No visitors are permitted into health care settings, except if they meet the following requirements: 

Patient areas/general wards: 

• A patient can only have 1 visiting session per 24hrs, and a maximum of 2 (two) visitors during that session    
• Visitors must be aged 16 years or older  
• HOWEVER visitors are only permitted if: 
  • you are the parent, guardian or carer of a child who is a patient in hospital.  
  • you are providing support that is necessary for the patient's emotional or physical wellbeing (including mental health support and support for people living with dementia).   
  • you are a nominated person under the Mental Health Act 
  • you are providing interpreter or informal language support to enable the delivery of care by the care team  
  • you are learning to support the patient's care upon discharge.   
  • you are the carer of a patient with a disability.  
  • A patient whose medical condition is life threatening can have visitors.     
  • A patient attending an emergency department or outpatient clinic can have someone accompany them if it is necessary for them to do so.   

End of life  

• A patient who is dying and/or receiving end-of-life care can have visitors.   
• All visits must be pre-arranged with the Ward – by appointment only. 

Families, friends and carers are encouraged to coordinate their visits with each other to ensure they are adhering to restrictions, and to contact the Ward if they are unclear on what to do.  

To make an appointment to visit, call: 03 5320 3700

At the entrance to the hospital, visitors will be required to:

• Check-in with QR Code 
• Answer questions asked by the entrance screeners 
• Confirm that you have a pre-booked appointment 
• Have your temperature taken by the entrance screeners 
• Show your vaccination certificate – if you are not vaccinated you must: 
  • wear an N95 mask (which will be supplied) 
  • wear eye protection - either face shield or goggles (which will be supplied) 
  • If you do not consent to wearing this additional PPE you will not be permitted to visit the patient 

ACCESS

In order to keep our patients and others safe during this time of increased concern, we are asking members of our community to think carefully about your need to visit BHS sites.  If you do need to attend please note that:

• For Inpatient Rehabilitation go through the entrance on Eyre Street
• For Gandarra and GEM please enter through their respective front entrances on Ascot Street
• All other services are accessed via the Ascot Street main entrance.
  
  

Please continue to follow signs and directions regarding access as these continue to change.

VISITORS effective from 30 October 2021

• The visit is to be scheduled with the Manager or their delegate by calling the facility
• The visit is limited to two (2) visitors at a time between 11am and 6pm, 7 days per week, with a maximum of five (5) visiting sessions per day per resident
• The visit is for a maximum of 60 minutes
• All visitors must wear facility supplied personal protective equipment including eye protection, and
  practice hand hygiene upon entry, following staff instructions
• The visit is to occur in the resident’s room or outside (not within communal areas)
• The visitor must remain at a safe 1.5 metre social distance from the person they are visiting, staff and
  any other residents within our facility
• The visitor must not have travelled overseas in the past 14 days
• The visitor must not have been in contact with a person positive with COVID-19 in the past 14 days
• The visitor must not have any cold, flu or respiratory symptoms, i.e. fever, sore throat, cough,
  temperature, runny nose or shortness of breath
• Due to the high risk of increasing COVID within the environment after lifting of restrictions, the visitor will be asked to have a COVID test within 48 hours before the visit. This may mean the result is still pending during the time of the visit and will be noted on entry. We hope to move to rapid antigen tests very soon
• The visitor cannot have visited a Tier 1 exposure site and been advised to immediately be in
  isolation
• The visitor will be screened on entry with the above questions and must use the QR code
• The visitor can bring food into the facility in a container that can be wiped clean and meets
  current BHS policies regarding food from outside facilities
• No children (under 16 yrs) are to visit the facility

If you have any specific concerns regarding our response or any other issue, please email: residential@bhs.org.au or call 5320 3620.

Our facilities include:

• Talbot Place
• Eureka Village Hostel
• Geoffrey Cutter Centre
• Hailey House
• Jack Lonsdale Lodge
• James Thomas Court
• B. Messer Hostel
• S. Hobson Nursing Home
• Bill Crawford Lodge
• Steele Haughton
• Transition Care Program (TCP)