William Stokes Unit

How to find us

The William Stokes Unit which is located on the Ground floor of Tallaght University Hospital. When you arrive at the main entrance of the Hospital, turn left at the lifts in the main atrium. Walk to the very end of the corridor and turn left. The door to enter the unit is on your right hand side.

From Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm visitors can access the units through the Charlie O’Toole Day Unit entrance.

Visiting Hours

Daily visiting hours in the Hospital are from: 2pm - 4pm and from 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Visitors are regarded as an important part of the patient's day and are very welcome.  The welfare of the patient must, however, always be taken into consideration. If the patient is likely to become unduly upset or tired, certain visiting restrictions may be imposed. Patients need adequate rest to help the healing process.

Visiting Guidelines

Visitors are regarded as an important part of the patient's day and are very welcome. Please note Patient safety is our number one priority. We have strict policies on infection prevention & control which apply to everyone: staff, patients and visitors. We would ask all visitors observe the following:

• Only two visitors permitted to visit at any one time
• The Hospital is a no smoking hospital this includes the use of electronic smoking devices
• To avoid bringing infection into the ward, visitors are asked not to visit if they have a cold, flu or infection.
• If you are bringing food into patients, please check with the staff in charge - this is to decrease the risk of food contamination and patients may also be on a restricted diet
• Use visitor toilets rather than patient toilets this reduces the risk of cross-infection
• Please dispose of any litter properly, help us to keep our communal areas and entrances clean.
• Please note that for infection control reasons flowers or plants are not permitted
• Please note that visiting during mealtimes is forbidden. This enables patients’ to eat and enjoy their meals uninterrupted, an essential requirement for good nutrition so our patients can recover more quickly. The only exception to this is if you are a carer providing assistance with a patient’s mealtime
• Never bring alcohol or drugs to patients
  
  

If you see this symbol when visiting the wards please be aware of its importance. This spiral symbol means that a patient is imminently dying or has died. We would ask all visitors to be respectful and avoid mobile phone use and to be prepared to meet people who are grieving during your time on the ward.

Pastoral Care

Pastoral Care Services are available for patients. Nursing Staff will arrange for a member of the Pastoral Care Team to visit a patient if required.

Description of William Stokes Unit

William Stokes Unit is purpose- built combined unit for acute assessment, rehabilitation and day services for older people. The unit includes 17 Acute Care of the Older Person bed and a nine bedded Acute Stroke Unit. The unit specialises in acute gerontology and stroke patients. William Stokes Unit provides a multidisciplinary service specific to the patients’ needs and strives to achieve the patient’s maximum potential- physically, socially, psychologically and spiritually thus enabling the person to work towards independence in their lifestyle and home environment.  

Our Team

In order to achieve the goal for the patients admitted in this unit, we work as a multi-disciplinary team consisting of doctors, nurses, health care assistants, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech & language therapists, clinical nutritionists, medical social workers and clinical psychologist.

Day of Discharge

Once your discharge day is planned, hospital policy aims to have all patients discharged by 11am. Please think through what arrangements you need to put in place to get home from hospital. On discharge, all patients are given a discharge letter for their GP and a prescription. An appointment for follow up will be made if necessary.

Valuables

We advise all patients not to bring valuables with you during an admission i.e. cash or jewellery. The Hospital is not responsible for patients’ valuables, if kept by the patient.  If you do happen to carry cash or items of value with you, there is a patient safe on ward which your nurse can lodge things in.