Patients & Visitors
Thyolo hospital appreciates the need for our patients to have visitors.
Visiting hours are as follows:
Morning: 6:00 hrs to 7:30 hrs
Afternoon: 12:00 hrs to 13:30 hrs
Evening: 16.30 hrs to 18:00 hrs
Visitors are an important part of the recovery process and are welcome in the hospital. Visitors can help patients recover faster, and help reduce their anxiety and stress. However, it is up to the person in the hospital to decide if they want visitors, and visitors must respect the hospital policies and visiting hours.
For patients, a hospital is a place for treatment and recovery, keep this in mind when planning your hospital visit. Before you leave home, check with the hospital to make sure the patient is well enough to see you.
HEALTH AND HYGIENE
The hospital ask all visitors to clean their hands when they first arrive. This is to avoid bringing infections such as bacteria and viruses into the hospital environment, where sick patients are highly susceptible to infections.
Visitors are always advised to wash their hands when they leave the hospital to avoid taking the infection with them.
Before buying any soft drinks, consider the hospital policy on what you can and cannot bring into the wards. Some drinks are strictly prohibited in the wards.
THINGS TO CONSIDER
There are a number of things you can do to consider the patient you are visiting, hospital staff, and other patients, which include:
Check that the patient is happy for you to visit before you make the journey to the hospital.
It is important to remember that the nursing staff is there to attend to the patient's medical needs, not the needs of visitors.
If you bring children, make sure you properly supervise them and that they do not disturb other patients and hospital staff.
Smoking and drinking are not permitted on the hospital premises.
Respect the rules and policies of the hospital, be courteous to the hospital staff and other patients, and respect the wishes of the patient.
Remember that the patient may be feeling low, and your visit is likely to be an important and happy distraction.
Covid-19 forehead temperature measurements.
COVID-19 GUIDELINES AND VISITORS POLICY
Visitors must undergo temperature and symptom screening at the entry point, perform hand hygiene and wear appropriate personal protective equipment at all times. Please be especially attentive to wearing a mask over your nose and mouth.
If a visitor does not pass the screening process or does not follow hospital protocols, they will not be allowed to visit.
Role of Guardians in the Hospital
The hospital allows patients to have one guardian. Guardians complete a variety of tasks in the wards. All cook for and wash their patients daily. They felt it necessary to be present to assist with medications, wound cleaning and dressing, and the emptying of bedpans. Observing the patient, whether the patient is improving or not, and reporting to the doctors. With the nursing shortage, the Guardians felt it necessary to be a constant presence by the side of their patient.
Guardian shelter
Guardians mostly slept in the wards, next to the beds of their patients. While a Guardian shelter exists on the hospital grounds, the Guardians use the shelter yard for cooking and washing, but they did not feel that it was a safe place for them to stay or to leave their belongings while they were in the wards.
Guardians are like eyes for the nurses.
