THE MASTER OF the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin has urged the public to be understanding of restrictions put in place at the hospital after security staff have been verbally abused for implementing them.

Professor Fergal Malone told RTÉ’s Liveline programme this afternoon that one member of the staff was even spat on. 

The hospital has stopped almost all public visits. Women giving birth are allowed have one named, nominated companion with them. For outpatient appointments, such as ultrasound scans, only the women attending the appointment are allowed into the hospital. 

“These restrictions are strict, and may cause inconvenience and distress, but we do not make them lightly,” the hospital says in a notice on its website. 

The measures are in response to the Covid-19 outbreak but Malone said no staff members or patients have tested positive for the virus. 

Asked would the security staff member who was spat on be tested for the virus, Malone said the hospital has “very clear criteria and guidance” on such matters but that he couldn’t speak publicly about the details of a staff member. 

Malone said he understood the frustrations of family and friends of new mothers and mothers who have babies in Nicu, but that the hospital has to take severe measures to keep patients and staff safe. 

He asked the public to “work with us” on keeping the restrictions in place: 

We know it’s terrible to be denied entry, that you want to be there to see the scan. You want to be here for an appointment and we understand that. But we’re the busiest maternity house in the country, we’re the oldest maternity hospital in Europe, space is not there for one to two metres social distancing, we just don’t have that luxury.

Malone added that the hospital wanted to maintain its status of having no patient or staff member testing positive for Covid-19 for “as long as humanly possible”.