Families and carers are welcome to visit their loved one in our care.  We currently have additional visitor restrictions in place for our Acute (Hospital) wards due to the current state-wide increase in COVID-19 cases impacting health services.

What are the principles for care and support visits?

Subject to meeting the visitor arrangements, a visitor may attend a hospital to provide essential care and support necessary for the patient’s immediate emotional or physical wellbeing (including mental health support and support for people living with dementia).

A carer refers to any person, including a family member and a person under 18 years of age, who provides support, assistance or personal care to a person with healthcare needs or a mental illness, or a disability resulting from a mental illness.

Current Acute (Hospital) Visitor Requirements at Central Highlands Rural Health:

All visitors must report to the Customer Service Officer or Reception at the site entrance to complete attestation.

• 2 visitors per patient each day
• Maximum of 1 hour
• Must wear an N95 mask
• Must provide a negative rapid antigen test (RAT)
• Visitors under 16 are permitted entry if they are visiting a patient who has a life-threatening medical condition or is receiving palliative care, or if they are a child, grandchild or sibling of the patient. They are not counted in the number of visitors if they are visiting a patient having end-of-life treatment, or if they are a child, grandchild or sibling of the patient.
• Support visits are permitted in Urgent Care Centres, outpatient settings and wards.
• You may be exempt from entry requirements if you are:
  • a person visiting for the purpose of end-of-life support
  • an essential carer of a resident, or a person nominated by the director of the care facility where undertaking a rapid antigen test is not practicable
  • able to provide evidence of a negative result from a PCR test taken within 24 hours of visiting

You must not visit if you:

• tested positive for COVID-19
• are a household contact
• have COVID-19 symptoms
• are waiting for a COVID-19 test result
• are an overseas traveller or an international aircrew service worker who just arrived in Victoria

What must visitors do?

• Visitors must stay in the patient room and limit movement around the building, apart from quick trips to the bathroom.
• If the patient is suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19, appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) must be used by visitors: see Infection prevention and control resourceshealth.vic.gov.au/covid-19/infection-prevention-control-resources-covid-19.
• Health service staff will ensure visitors put on (‘don’) and take off (‘doff’) PPE properly.
• Each hospital may have different local operating procedures; visitors must also adhere to these directions.

We currently have visiting hours for our Acute (Hospital) areas:

• Creswick Health: 10:00am-3:00pm
• Daylesford Health: 10:00am-3:00pm
• Kyneton Health: 10:00am-5:00pm

If you would like more information or to visit outside of these times, please contact the nurse in charge at the facility with your request.