Staying safe and well in our hospital
Our aim is to provide you with the safest possible health care. However, there are still risks when you spend time in hospital. The risks might include:
- infection
- misuse of medicines
- falling and injuring yourself
- sores on your skin from sitting or lying in the same position.
You and your family or carer can help prevent these risks. Watch this video to find out how we can work together to keep you safe in hospital.
Patients, visitors and staff have a major role in infection prevention and control. You may have come to hospital with an infection. You may also have an increased risk of getting an infection if you have had surgery, if you are taking medicines that weaken your immune system or if you stay in hospital for a long time.
Hand hygiene
Even if your hands look clean they can still be carrying germs. One of the best ways to reduce the spread of infections is to wash or clean your hands. Hand hygiene is a new term to describe washing or cleaning your hands with alcohol based hand rub.
Hand hygiene is the best way to help prevent infection. Hand hygiene products (such as alcohol based hand run and soap and water) are available throughout all our clinical areas such as patient rooms, wards, and out-patient areas.
It is very important that you and anyone visiting you cleans their hands with the alcohol rub or soap and water, before visiting you and when they leave.
How do you use alcohol based hand rub?
- Put the alcohol hand based rub on your palms and rub your hands together
- Cover all of your hands including your fingers and thumbs, front and back, and rub your hands together until they feel dry before touching anything else
This should take around 20 seconds.
What can you do to reduce the spread of infection?
- Tell staff if you have had any overseas healthcare contact (i.e. clinic, hospital, GP, nursing home) in the last 12 months, if you have vomiting or diarrhoea, open wounds or weeping skin sores
- Wash your hands with an alcohol based hand rub or, soap and water regularly, and especially after using the toilet, changing a nappy, blowing your nose, sneezing or coughing
- Please do not sit on other patients beds, and please ask your visitors not to sit on your bed
- Tell our staff if you have had a recent rash or had an infection
- When your hands are visibly dirty wash your hands with soap and water
- When you enter and leave the hospital or clinic area, clean your hands with an alcohol based hand rub
Do not visit people in hospital if you are sick with a contagious illness such as a cold or flu, vomiting, diarrhoea, or chickenpox.
Currently all NSW Health Facilities are screening all staff, visitors and patients as a condition of entry. Please be aware of COVID-19 hotspots and restrictions. Please let staff know immediately if you are a patient or visitor affected by hotspots.
If you are not certain about whether you should be visiting someone in hospital, please ask one of our staff before you arrive.
Infection precaution rooms
If you have an infection we may move you to a room on your own. We will let you and your family know before this happens and explain what this means. If you are in an infection precaution room staff need to clean their hands before entering your room. Depending on the nature of your infection staff may also need to wear gloves, plastic gowns, eye protection and a mask when entering your room.
While you are in hospital you must only take or use medicines that have been given to you by the hospital staff.
While it might seem easier or helpful to handle your own medicines, this is how accidents can happen. Allowing us to manage your medicines during your stay helps us keep you safe.
Please read this important information about using medicines safely in our hospital.
When you are in our Hospital, please tell us if you are worried about a change in your condition. If you are a visitor and notice a change in the condition of the person who is sick and in our care, please also tell us.
To share your concerns with us, please speak to a nurse or doctor and explain what you are worried about. If you remain worried, we have a phone number you can call. Please ask our staff for the number you can call.
You may see posters in our Hospital with this information on them. This is called our REACH program.
We ask you to REACH out to us with your concerns because you and your visitors might notice changes in your condition before we do. Together we can care for you.
Our staff are fully trained in emergency procedures. In the event of an emergency, you should stay in or by your bed until told otherwise by one of our staff. In the case of fire, do not use the lifts. Please remain calm and stay within the ward until the nurse in charge guides you to the closest evacuation area.