Visiting hours and guidelines at the Maternity Unit at Tipperary University Hospital have been raised in Leinster House today.
Senator Garret Ahearn made the case for any Covid-19 related restrictions in relation to maternity visits be lifted at hospitals across the country.
The Tipperary Senator made reference to the situation at the Clonmel hospital and compared it to Cork University Hospital.
Speaking in the Seanad he acknowledged the work being done by staff in Maternity units but questioned why there wasn’t a universal approach to visits.
“In Tipperary University Hospital visiting hours in the maternity wards are from 8am until 9pm. In Cork its from 7am until 11pm. And the reason why this is a problem is because that’s not the way it used to be before Covid.
“It’s a really important stage in life to be able to have the family come together when a new-born baby is in the hospital. And it’s not the same just coming home with the baby. There’s something special about bringing them in. And there’s hospitals that are doing that but there’s other hospitals that aren’t and in my view I don’t think that’s particularly fair.”
Senator Garret Ahearn has called on the HSE to ensure that visiting is returned to pre-Covid status.
“There’s certainly a feeling for parents and for families that it’s almost like some hospitals don’t want visitors coming in at all.
“I totally get that we put measures in place and that the local management have the authority to make decisions based on Covid outbreaks. That happened in Clonmel just recently and that’s fine, no issue with that.
“What I’m talking about is visiting restrictions when everything is normal – it has not gone back to normal in Tipperary University Hospital to what it was pre-Covid.”
