VISITING HOSPITAL

All hospital visitors are recommended to wear a medical face mask. Expand this message for information about visiting hospital.

Last updated:
13 March 2023

Some visitor restrictions for all Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury hospitals and health facilities remain in place, but we have relaxed others.

There is still a heightened risk to vulnerable people in hospital and so we recommend all people wear a mask when visiting any of our facilities and follow other advice designed to keep patients, staff and  visitors safe.

To keep everybody safe:

  • Visitors or support people must not visit our facilities if they are unwell. Do not visit if you have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and haven’t completed your isolation period.
  • Patients may have more than one visitor, except in some situations such as multi-bed rooms where it can cause overcrowding.
  • Surgical/medical masks are recommended to be worn at all sites. Masks will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • For Specialist Mental Health Services everyone is strongly encouraged to wear a face mask in all inpatient areas and areas where consumers are receiving care (i.e. community appointments, home-visits, transporting people). Discretion may be applied in cases where masks impair your ability to communicate effectively.
  • Visitors must not eat or drink in multibed rooms because of the increased risk when multiple people remove their face mask in the same space.
  • Hand sanitiser is available and must be used.

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as our staff work hard to protect and care for some of the most vulnerable in our community.

Visiting patients with COVID-19

  • People can visit patients who have COVID-19 but they must wear an N95 mask – this will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • Other methods of communication will be facilitated e.g. phone, Facetime, Zoom, WhatsApp etc where visits aren’t possible.

All of our Hospitals

Visiting hours for our hospitals have returned to pre COVID-19 hours with the exception of Christchurch Women’s Hospital.

All visitors are recommended to wear a medical face mask.

Parents/caregivers are able to be with their child in hospital and visitors are now allowed, except for the Children’s Haematology and Oncology Day stay where just one parent/caregiver is able to attend their appointment with their child. Exceptions by special arrangement only.

Patients and visitors should also read the additional more detailed visiting guidelines for each specific hospital.

More COVID-19 information

About us

Te Whatu OraHealth New Zealand Waitaha/Canterbury district covers an area of the East Coast of the South Island from Kaikōura in the north, to Ashburton in the south, as well as the Rēkohu/Chatham Islands. It is responsible for the health of an estimated *594,320 people.

Roughly 80 percent of this population lives in the Greater Ōtautahi/Christchurch area, with the rest dispersed over a large geographical area. Waitaha/Canterbury is the second largest district in terms of population and area. It has the fastest-growing Māori population, and the sixth largest total Māori population. Around 10 percent of the district’s population is Asian, and this is its fastest-growing ethnic group. The district has the largest population aged over 75.

Te Whatu OraHealth New Zealand owns and operates five major hospital facilities in Ōtautahi/Christchurch and Ashburton, and almost 30 smaller rural hospitals and community bases around the district.

On top of providing health services to its own population, Te Whatu OraWaitaha/Canterbury provides many specialised services to people referred from other Te Whatu Ora districts where these services are not available.

* Funded Waitaha/Canterbury population at September 2022.

Te Tai o Poutini/West Coast “transalpine” relationship

Te Whatu OraWaitaha/Canterbury also provides many services for the population of the Te Tai o Poutini/West Coast. The two districts have several formal partnership agreements.

The District Director of Te Whatu OraWaitaha/Canterbury is also District Director of Te Tai o Poutini/West Coast. Several managers and members of the Leadership Team hold positions in both districts.

Page last updated: 3 April 2023

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