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

Infection Prevention and Control Service

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Vision

Healthcare-associated infections and the spread of harmful pathogens across the healthcare system is minimised through excellence in IPC practice. There is a deeply embedded culture among staff whereby best practice to minimise infection risk to patients, staff and visitors to healthcare facilities is the accepted norm.

Purpose

The IPC Service delivers quality infection prevention and control services to minimise the occurrence and spread of infection across the healthcare system. It promotes excellence in IPC practice and strategically deploys its resources to improve safety for patients, staff and visitors to our health care facilities.

Infection Prevention and Control Advisory Committee

Oversight and governance for the IPC Service is provided by the Infection Prevention and Control Advisory Committee (IPCAC). Membership includes a senior Infectious Disease Physician, a senior Clinical Microbiologist, a senior Public Health Physician, the Nursing Director – Infection Prevention and Control, the Clinical Director – Infection Prevention and Control, a senior Primary Care General Practitioner and a senior Primary Care Nursing Leader.

IPC Service Operational Team

The IPC Service is led by the Nursing Director – Infection Prevention and Control and the Clinical Director – Infection Prevention and Control. The team includes Clinical Nurse Specialists and Registered Nurses with the range of skills and expertise necessary to implement, co-ordinate and document delivery of the annual IPC programme Ashburton and Rural Health Services, Burwood Hospital (Older Persons Health and Rehabilitation Service), Community Services, Medical & Surgical Services, Specialist Mental Health Service, and Woman’s and Child Health.

Contact

Email: IPCNursing@cdhb.health.nz
Phone: (03) 378 6966 

Out-of-hours advice is provided by the Medical Microbiologist on-call, who can be reached via the Christchurch Hospital switchboard (03) 364 0640

Page last updated: 11 January 2023

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