UL HOSPITALS Group has launched a new Visitor Booking App to provide loved ones of hospital inpatients and women using maternity services with a convenient, efficient way of organising access to the group’s six sites.
The Visitor Booking App was launched initially in Ennis, Nenagh, St John’s and Croom Orthopaedic Hospitals from yesterday, November 29, ahead of a full roll-out to include University Hospital Limerick (UHL) and University Maternity Hospital Limerick (UMHL).
Inpatients or women accessing maternity services will be asked to nominate their visitors, support persons or partners, and this information will recorded on ULHG’s Integrated Patient Management System (iPMS). If patients are unable to communicate during admission, hospital staff will organise this with their loved ones.
When this information is entered, the nominated persons will be able to book their visit on the Visitor Booking App, which can be accessed from a range of devices, including desktop PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
To book a visit, go to https://ulhgvisitor.com/ (or scan a QR code printed on the Visitor App information leaflet available on site) and enter the following information:
- Full name of the inpatient, or woman accessing maternity services
- Date of birth of the inpatient, or woman accessing maternity services
- Full name and contact details of the person booking access
- Complete a brief Covid-19 questionnaire form
In the initial roll-out period, staff on hospital wards will be happy to help anyone with queries about booking an inpatient visit using the app.
Project lead, Bernadette Murphy, Director of Nursing, Perioperative Directorate, UL Hospitals Group, said: “While Covid-19 continues to present challenges in healthcare settings, we recognise the importance of visiting and support for our inpatients, and for their loved ones.”
She added: “We have worked with the Limerick-based company Ingenium to develop an app that will make this entire visiting and access process much easier for everyone in the busy hospital environment.”
“Throughout the pandemic, we’ve used technology in a positive way, to help our inpatients maintain connections with their families and loved ones. This Visitor Booking App is the latest example of this, simplifying the manual processes that we have put in place for inpatients and their loved ones during the pandemic,” Ms Murphy explained.
With high community transmission levels of COVID-19, UL Hospitals Group say they must continue to “take every precaution and follow national guidance for keeping our inpatients, loved ones, and staff members safe from the threat of the disease”.
“We’re limiting visits to one person per time slot, and asking people to limit their visits to 30 minutes where possible. In addition to completing the Covid-19 questionnaire on the app, anyone accessing our hospitals will be temperature-checked at the entrance, and asked to wear a face-mask or visor, and observe good hand hygiene,” said a ULHG spokesperson.
In line with the latest national guidance on hospital access from HSE Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control (AMRIC), from Monday all nominated persons and visitors will be required to produce an EU Digital Covid Certificate or HSE Covid-19 Vaccination Record, or other proof of immunity, before access to hospital sites (with exemptions on compassionate grounds).
Information about access to UL hospitals is available on the HSE website at this page: scroll down to access the relevant hospital site (which are listed by county alphabetically, under Clare (Ennis Hospital), Limerick (UHL, UMHL and St John’s & Croom Orthopaedic Hospitals) and Tipperary (Nenagh Hospital).
Anyone who is unwell, and in particular those who have symptoms of Covid-19 (including runny nose, sore throat, elevated temperature), should not arrange a visit or access the hospital. See here for more about symptoms of Covid-19.
The data you enter on the Visitor Booking App will be processed only for the purpose of booking a visit to see an inpatient, or support a woman who is accessing maternity services. The name and mobile phone number of the visitor will be deleted permanently from the App 16 days after his or her last visit. Data is retained only to verify visits and for contact tracing purposes if required.
