Hospital news
Visiting the hospital
The Mater Hospital is experiencing a significant increase in the number of patients admitted with Covid-19. As a result, we are advising the public that visiting at the hospital is being limited to a maximum of two people per patient per day.
Visiting hours are to be strictly adhered to and no children are permitted on site. However, patients who have reached end of life will be given additional consideration.
All visitors will need to wear a mask in all patient facing areas. We are also asking all patients attending the Mater Hospital to wear a face mask in patient areas.
These measures are to ensure the highest levels of infection prevention and control and are aimed at protecting our patients, our staff and those who are visiting the hospital.
The Mater Hospital has all infection control measures in place. These visitor restrictions will help us lower the spread of infection. Please do not visit the Mater Hospital if you have been to an area with Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Phone your GP if you have symptoms such as a cough, shortness of breath, breathing difficulties or a high temperature. Do not visit the Mater Hospital if you have any of these symptoms.
Visitor guidelines
If you are coming to the hospital, please wash your hands properly before you arrive. Use the hand gel or foam at our main entrances before you go in, and before you leave.
Please cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Make sure you put used tissues in a bin and wash your hands afterwards. This will help stop the spread of viruses.
Patient services
All appointments will go ahead unless you are told otherwise. If you want to reschedule your appointment, please contact the hospital.
Patients who need urgent or time-sensitive surgeries will still have these. Surgeries will take place at the Mater Hospital or at a private hospital.
We are reducing non-urgent activities and will contact any affected patients in advance.
If you are due a critical surgery or appointment, and we have not contacted you, please attend as planned.
For more information on COVID-19, please see the HSE website or call the HSE helpline on 1850 241850.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Latest Updates
Mater Hospital statement on rectification of IT issue affecting some patient services 2nd August 2024.
The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital can today (Friday, 2nd August) confirm the rectification of an IT systems issue which affected access to patient Electronic Health Records earlier this week.
All patient services at the Mater Hospital are now operating as normal. A small number of surgical cases scheduled this week were deferred due to the problem. The Mater Hospital is liaising with affected patients to reschedule these surgeries within the coming days.
The Mater's Rapid Injury Clinic in Smithfield will reopen for patients tomorrow, 3rd August at 8am.
The cause of the IT problem is under investigation, however, it is understood that the issue was not as a result of any malicious attack. We are working with our funders to replace the EHR with a more modern ICT system.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our patients this week.
Patient comfort & care during COVID-19
What can the Social Work Department do to Support You and your family?
Due to COVID-19, there are visiting restrictions in place in acute hospitals at the moment in Ireland, including the Mater Hospital. These restrictions are in place to protect our patients, our staff and the general public. We understand that visiting restrictions mean that patients don’t get to see their families as much as they would like to while in hospital, and can also mean that families don’t get as much regular feedback on how their loved one is doing in hospital. This can cause worry while the patient is staying with us in hospital.
Medical Social Workers often act as a liaison between patients/families and the clinical team. We want to ensure that you have a clear understanding of what is happening for you and that you have the opportunity to take part in any discussions and decisions about your care. This communication does not replace the clinical feedback from the medical or nursing team, but will hopefully provide reassurance for patients and their family members. We will also be happy to facilitate virtual visits/meetings with members of the ward based team which will hopefully mean you can remain connected to your family during your inpatient stay.
We understand just how difficult it is for our patients not being able to see family while they are in our care at the moment. It is especially hard for patients who are unable or unfamiliar with using mobile phones to keep in touch with family. We have found that putting photos of family or loved ones in our patient rooms has brought a huge sense of comfort and calm to them. Our medical social workers are very happy to facilitate this if a patient and their family would like to have photos of family members or loved ones in their room while they are in our care. To discuss this please contact the social work department on 01 8032406, or alternatively you can email socialwork@mater.ie with your contact details and also the name and ward of the patient and the team will get back to you.
If you feel that our Medical Social Work Department could support you/your family member in our care in another way, please do not hesitate to get in touch and let us know by emailing us at the above email address.
We know how upsetting and difficult it is for patients to not to be able to have visitors in hospital during this challenging time.
We've created a new email inbox where family & loved ones can send a letter or message to a patient to brighten up their day.
Just email your letter or message to bestwishes@mater.ie along with the patient name, patient date of birth or address (so we can ensure post goes to correct patient) and the ward name. The Patient Liaison Team will then print it out, put it in an envelope and hand deliver it to the patient's ward for you.
This service will run Monday to Friday and messages received over the weekend or on public holidays will be delivered the next working day.
- See above for Patient Messages & Letters if you'd like to send a message or letter by email to a patient. This will be printed and delivered for you,
- You can send a card or letter by post to a patient in our care. On the envelope include the patient's full name, the name of the ward they are on, and the hospital address: Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Eccles Street, Dublin 7.
- There is Wi-Fi available in all our wards and we are encouraging patients who have smart phones to keep in touch with their friends and family using apps such as Skype, Zoom or WhatsApp for ‘Virtual Visiting’.
- Our Hospice Friendly Hospitals programme received a very generous donation of a small number of tablets to facilitate ‘virtual visiting’ to support patients to stay in touch with their friends and family. This is very useful for patients who don’t have a smartphone, or if they are too frail or ill to use their phone at the moment. The tablets also allow a ‘virtual visit’ take place in cases where a family member cannot visit the hospital. Our staff will facilitate a virtual visit over Skype / Zoom / WhatsApp / Viber etc. To make arrangements for this, please email bestwishes@mater.ie giving the patient name and patient date of birth or address, the ward they are on, together with the name, email address and telephone number of a designated family member to arrange the Virtual Visit call with. Every effort will be made to arrange facilitate a telephone or video call or a virtual visit at the earliest opportunity by a member of our healthcare team.