Newly refurbished wards re-open at Mayo University Hospital

Mayo University Hospital has this week re-opened the newly refurbished wards and patients have now moved back to the refurbished areas.

On Thursday 12 November, the refurbished medical beds returned to use in the hospital and patients have also moved back to the refurbished Coronary Care Unit and the Medical Day Unit is also operational.

The refurbishment was carried out in two phases to ensure minimal impact on the hospital. Phase one involved the refurbishment of wards which include 66 inpatient beds.

Commenting Catherine Donohoe, Hospital Manager, Mayo University Hospital said, “The refurbishment works, which have taken place over the last number of months, have addressed one of the bigger and long-standing infection control issues in Mayo University Hospital.  The renovation also incorporated the replacement of windows in three wards including the paediatric ward. This work will improve patient comfort as these windows have been problematic for some time and made it difficult to control the temperature on these wards.

“The infection control works were completed on two large medical wards. The main gains are reducing the risk of outbreaks due to cross infection and easy-clean surfaces for walls and floors. We have new patient toilets and showers all with wheelchair access, sensor lights for patients’ safety and the toilets have been designed to enhance the safe care of patients suffering from Dementia. We have upgraded two of the single rooms for high dependency patients. All three wards have been repainted and some other general improvements carried out. We will be maintaining St John’s Ward in the Sacred Heart Hospital as an acute medical ward to help reduce patients waiting for beds into the future.

“The work was undertaken in a very short space of time and this was possible because of the huge support we received from staff, patients and their families. I know that the last 15 weeks have been very disruptive and I want to thank everyone for their patience and help in enabling us to have this important work completed. Carrying out building works in a busy hospital environment, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic is challenging. We were supported in the delivery of this by our colleagues in HSE Estates who worked closely with Taylor Architects, Mountain View Security and Season Master, the window contractor. All of the external building contractors on site appreciated the importance of this work for our patients and dealt quickly with any issue that arose to ensure we completed these building works as quickly as possible.

“We now have our temporary modular unit in place on site since last week and this will be operational by the end of this month. It will increase our capacity and will mean improved direct access to hospital services for acute medical patients, endoscopy patients, elective surgical patients and patients with/suspected of having COVID-19. This unit, together with new processes we have implemented, will help reduce patients’ wait time in our Emergency Department. We expect to have the unit in use by the end of November.

“We continue to remind the community of the importance of following the HSE’s public health advice to help us maintain essential health care services. We ask patients not to come to the hospital for their scheduled appointments if they are showing any symptoms or signs of COVID-19, to minimise spread of the virus. Patients should not come to the hospital if any member of their household is showing any potential symptoms or signs of COVID-19 or if they are a close contact with a confirmed case. If patients have any doubts, we advise that they call us in advance of their appointment to check. This is both for the patients’ protection and the protection of others. We ask that all patients attending the hospital wear a mask and other than in exceptional circumstances, we ask that patients attend the hospital alone. Our visiting restrictions continue other than in the case of patients who are at end of life or other exceptional circumstances.

“The final and most important message here is that the hospital has clear processes in place to address all our patient’s needs. We want to encourage those who need acute care to come to the hospital. People should not be fearful of attending hospital for care. There is a lot more information available to us to allow us live with and provide hospital services in the context of COVID-19 and we have systems in place for the provision of safe care. Our elective planned services are being increased weekly and it is critical that we use all our services as efficiently as possible. There were a small numbers of elective patients cancelled and these patients will be prioritised with the opening of these beds” concluded Catherine Donohoe.