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 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.
What are the facilities hosting mental health ED like and are there any plans to improve them?
What is the total number of staff working in the mental health crisis team when it is fully resourced.
The number of staff working in the team currently?
How many people left the mental health crisis team this year? And over the last six years broken down by year?
How many staff from the mental health crisis team were assaulted this year, how many resulted in an ACC claim, and how long was each incident off work as a result? Same info for last year and year before if possible too.
What is the role of police in assisting the crisis mental health team if they are unable to manage a patient?