COVID-19

Information for Patients and Visitors

We would like to assure all of our current and future patients, visitors and staff that we are taking a risk based approach to managing the impact of the COVID-19 situation within St Andrew's.  This includes an ongoing assessment of the situation and taking guidance from the recommendations of SA Health and the Australian Government Department of Health.

We take our responsibilities for patient and staff safety very seriously and we want to ensure that, when patients enter St Andrew's, they are provided with the best, safest care possible.  We also want to ensure that our staff are protected so that they can continue to provide the vital care and services that our patients require.  We therefore advise that the following processes are in place:

Patients:

Testing Requirements:

The Hospital is screening all patients in relation to their COVID-19 risk prior to their admission. This will include a review of your close contact status, COVID diagnosis history, presence of symptoms or potential exposure to COVID-19.

On Arrival:

• Please wear a mask
• Review our COVID-19 screening questions
• Please note, if a patient presents for admission and is unable to meet the screening requirements, their admission may not proceed. If this is the case, we will liaise with your admitting doctor to discuss the appropriate next steps.

Visitors (effective from 14 September 2022):

Effective from 14 September 2022, overnight patients will be able to have two visitors**.  Chemotherapy patients are able to have one visitor accompany them for their treatment, and day patients are able to be accompanied by one support person.

As St Andrew's is defined as a high risk facility, our requirements are:

• Upon entry, visitors will be required to:
  • Wear a surgical mask at all times whilst in the Hospital (including whilst in patient rooms)
  • Review a series of COVID screening questions (see below)
  • Perform hand hygiene
• Note, visitors will not be able to enter the Hospital if, in the past 7 days, they have:
  • Received a positive COVID-19 test result (with the day of result being day 0)
  • Been a close contact* of a positive case (with the day of exposure being day 0)
  • Had symptoms of COVID (including fever, cold/flu like symptoms, shortness of breath, runny nose or new, unexplained loss of smell or altered taste);
  • Been directed to isolate by SA Health.

* For the purposes of the above, a ‘close contact’ is defined as someone who:

• is a household member or intimate partner of a person with COVID-19 during their infectious period
• has had close personal interaction with a person with COVID-19 for a cumulative period of 4 hours or more during their infectious period:
  • where masks are not worn by the person and the COVID-19 case; and
  • in close physical proximity (within 1.5 metres) and in an indoor setting.
• has been notified by SA Health that they are a close contact.

People with COVID-19 are considered infectious two days before their symptoms started or if they didn’t have any noticeable symptoms, they are considered infectious two days before they had their positive COVID-19 test taken.

Refer to the SA Health web site for further information.

Within the Hospital, we ask that visitors:

• Keep their visits short (maximum 2 hours)
• Go directly to and from the patient's room
• Keep their face mask on at all times, including when in patient rooms
• Practice social distancing and regular hand hygiene

We understand that the current visitor restrictions may be challenging for our patients and their families, and encourage them to stay in touch with loved ones by phone or digital means.

We appreciate your cooperation in helping us to keep everyone safe and healthy.  As this is an evolving situation, we will continue to keep you updated via our web site.

**If exceptional circumstances apply or if you have any specific questions please contact us on (08) 8408 2111.

Thank you for your cooperation.