The National Referral Hospital (NRH) is urging the public to limit the numbers of visits and visitors to the hospital.
NRH Chief Executive Officer Dr George Malefoasi made the call following the current heavy rain experienced in Honiara, which had exposed several leakages of water into the hospital posing potential health risks to the visiting public.
“My executive had met and made the decision that only one relative to stay with a patent at all times, and not more two visitors during the official visiting hours is allowed in to see the patient and this has been communicated to our security guards to implement”, stated Dr Malefoasi.
He explained that the hospital is easily inundated with water and with the leakages it will take time to fix which is currently being addressed by the hospital maintenance team and thus adherence to this call will also enable space for the staff to conduct repairs.
Dr Malefoasi apologized for any inconvenience this may cause and stated that the decision is necessary to ensure the preservation of health of the public and to allow repairs to proceed uninterrupted.
Meanwhile, NRH paediatricians are urging parents and guardians to ensure that their children remain inside of their homes to keep warm as the hospital often receive an influx of sick children after such heavy rains and strong winds.
Dr Titus Nasi, Head of Paediatrics Ward at the NRH explained that diseases such as diarrhoea, pneumonia, bronchitis etc are common sicknesses among babies and young children during and after such bad weather.
“Thus it is important to always ensure that babies and children are always kept indoors to preventable them from getting sick”, stated Dr Nasi.
The NRH will continue to assess the situation and provide relevant and appropriate advice to the public but for now, the public is urged to cooperate with the decision of the hospital’s executive.
