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

48 patients with gunshot wounds being treated at Christchurch Hospital after firearms incident

Friday 15 March 2019Media release3 minutes to read

THIS IS AN ARCHIVED PAGE. The advice and information contained in this page may not be current and it should only be used for historical reference purposes.
Canterbury DHB Chief Executive, David Meates

Canterbury DHB Chief Executive, David Meates

Please attribute comments to David Meates, Chief Executive, Canterbury District Health Board

Forty-eight patients, ranging from young children to adults with gunshot wounds are being treated at Christchurch Hospital. Injuries range from critical to minor.  Additional patients with gunshot wounds presented to other health facilities in the community.

Twelve operating theatres are currently in use and due to the nature of some of the injuries, many people will need multiple surgeries.  There is sufficient capacity and staff at Christchurch Hospital and the police cordon has been lifted from the site, so people who need emergency health care can now attend the Christchurch Hospital Emergency Department.

We have asked for some national services, which are usually provided in Christchurch, to be diverted to other centres e.g spinal cord injury service. We are grateful for the offers of support from other DHBs and from our staff who have offered to work longer shifts, with many volunteering to come in and help.

Around 200 family members are on site awaiting news of their loved ones. Together with police we are providing support to these people.

Unless it’s essential, we ask that people don’t come to visit patients Christchurch Hospital, as we are trying to reduce the numbers of people on the hospital site.

We have representatives from the mosque and the Muslim community with us, and interpreters to assist with communications.

Women due to give birth have been contacted by the maternity team to advise them they should go to one of our community maternity units unless they need hospital level care. Lead Maternity Carers and midwives have been informed of this.

Once we have provided for the medical needs of those injured, and the wellbeing of their families and whanau, we will be able to focus on the psychosocial wellbeing of our wider Canterbury community. 

We envisage we will see an increasing demand for wellbeing support over the coming days and weeks as the reality and enormity of what has happened in our city today sinks in.

If you want to know what has happened to a family member or you want to let people know where you are, the Red Cross have set up a website to help restore contact between people separated by the Christchurch Firearms Incident: https://familylinks.icrc.org/new-zealand/en/Pages/Home.aspx 

ENDS

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Page last updated: 19 October 2022

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