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

Canterbury Health System Quality Accounts 2020

WellNow Canterbury is our community health magazine which goes to every Canterbury mailbox twice a year. This spring edition doubles as the Canterbury Health System’s Quality Accounts, to provide a picture of how well our Health System is meeting Canterbury’s health needs, and showcase our work to improve services and standards of care.

This online-only version of WellNow also features a How we measure up section, charting our performance against the national health targets, the quality and safety markers as set by the Health Quality & Safety Commission, and other key measures.

Highlighted stories

Waipapa (Christchurch Hospital Hagley) opens in November 2020: Take a ‘walk’ through some of the highlights, in pictures.

Te Whare Whetū (House of Stars): The health benefits of reconnecting Māori health consumers with their whakapapa
A programme run by and predominantly for Māori, Te Whare Whetū helps people explore their whakapapa (cultural identity), build important links with their whānau and community, and improve their mental health.

Canterbury joins the National Bowel Screening Programme: Over the next two years 90,000 people aged from 60-74 years will receive a free bowel screening test kit in the mail. All they need to do is complete the test and return it in the packaging provided. During its first year alone, the programme will detect bowel cancer in 100 people who didn’t know they had it, enabling it to be treated earlier and with a much better chance of a good health outcome.

You can read the full online magazine in two different formats:

View on issuu.com Download PDF (5MB)

Tags

Download pdf (6MB)

Back to Document Library

Page last updated: 20 December 2021

Is this page useful?