| Visiting Hours |
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Visitors are welcome at the Royal Melbourne Hospital's City and Royal Park campuses. We recognise the important role that family and carers can play in the recovery process.
A new visiting hours policy has been developed using feedback from our patients, their families and visitors about what is important to them. The new policy supports family participation in care, which has been shown to improve the patient’s recovery, decrease anxiety or stress, increase family satisfaction, improve the quality of care for patients and improve the communication between patients, families and staff.
The policy applies to The Royal Melbourne Hospital City and Royal Park Campuses, with the exception of the Intensive Care Unit, the Cardio-Thoracic High Dependency Unit on 2 West and the NorthWestern Mental Health services located in the John Cade building. These units have their own visiting hours and rest periods that meet the special needs of their patients.
What are the new visiting hours?
General visiting hours are between 10am and 8pm.
There is a rest period between 1.30pm and 2.30pm.
Rest period
Between 1.30pm and 2.30pm the ward lights are dimmed and curtains are drawn. Our staff will try to keep the noise level to a minimum and reduce the number of people moving about the ward. This is to allow patients quiet time to rest. Designated visitors are welcome to stay during the rest period if patients need them, but other visitors are encouraged to leave the ward to allow patients to rest.
How many visitors can I have?
To stop the wards from getting overcrowded and too noisy, two visitors are allowed at the bedside during the general visiting hours.
We understand there will be times when there may be more than two people wanting to visit patients, and we will work with patients and their visitors to make sure other patients are not disturbed and that staff can continue to provide safe care.
There may be times when visitors will be asked to leave the bedside to enable our staff to attend a patient’s care and provide appropriate privacy; we ask that all visitors work with our staff to respect this request.
Protected mealtimes
Some of our wards have protected mealtimes, where visitors are asked to leave for a while so that patients can relax and take their time to enjoy a meal without distraction.
Designated visitors are welcome to stay during protected mealtimes to help with meals if patients would like them to do so.
This is especially important for our older patients, or those who have trouble eating.
Visitors and security after hours
When general visiting hours finish at 8pm, most wards will close and lock their doors to protect patients and their belongings overnight.
Designated visitors who have arranged with the Nurse in Charge to stay outside general visiting hours (10am – 8pm) will be given a green Visitor sticker with the ward number and date written on it. This will enable our staff to identify them as designated visitors. Designated visitors should request a Visitor sticker if they have arranged with the Nurse in Charge to stay outside general visiting hours (10am – 8pm).
Please tell us what you think
We value any comments or concerns that you have about your experience as a patient or visitor in our hospital. Please let us know in one of the following ways:
- Write or talk directly to our staff on the ward
- Fill in a Feedback form available throughout the hospital, and put it in a suggestion box, or give it to a staff member or post it to the Consumer Liaison Officer (address below)
- Phone the Consumer Liaison Officer on 9342 7806
- Email consumerliaison@mh.org.au
Consumer Liaison Officer
Level 8 West
The Royal Melbourne Hospital
City Campus
Grattan Street
Parkville VIC 3050 | 
