We provide care for people with all kinds of infectious diseases. These diseases can include viral infections, sexually transmitted diseases and general infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. We also work with other teams in the hospital to take over the care of patients with difficult infections, including MRSA.
The infectious diseases service is made up of four consultants, three specialist nurses and affiliated medical, social work, pharmacy and administrative staff. We provide the following services:
Inpatient general internal medicine and infectious diseases care
Inpatient infectious diseases consultation
Outpatient infectious disease care, including for HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, complex skin and soft tissue infections and bone and joint infections
Outpatient parenteral antibiotic treatment (OPAT)
Sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinics
The National Isolation Unit (NIU) / National High Level Isolation Unit (NHLIU) is part of the Infectious Diseases service. This state-of-the-art facility cares for patients from across Ireland, who have both hazardous and highly infectious diseases such as:
Our infectious diseases satellite pharmacy is a dedicated pharmacy service for specific patients of infectious diseases. It is located opposite clinic 6 and is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, from 10am to 2pm.
Our patients are contacted by letter or text message with an appointment date. If this appointment date does not suit you for any reason, please contact the clinic directly to arrange an alternative date. This will allow us to give the appointment to another patient
Sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinic
The STI clinic is a confidential service that includes full screening for all STIs, and treatment is free. This a self-referral clinic, so there is no need for a GP letter. Please telephone us on 01 803 2063 or email infectiousdiseases@mater.ie or alternatively communityclinic@mater.ie for asymptomatic screening appointments.
Infectious diseases
Referrals are required for this service, and are accepted from GPs, from other services within the hospital, and from other medical referral centres. Referrals can be posted or emailed directly to the clinic on Infectiousdiseases@mater.ie. When the referral letter is received, it will be assessed and prioritised by the consultant. Then the appointment is booked and an appointment letter is sent to a patient.
Persons wishing to transfer to our service, from another country must send in a transfer letter in English from the last hospital attended and they will be contacted by a member of the team
Information for clinicians
If an urgent appointment is required, a member of our team can be contacted through the hospital switchboard on (01) 803 2000. The relevant secretary or the unit manager will liaise with the appropriate consultant.
For information on our PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis) clinic here in the Mater Hospital, please See more information on PrEP