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 DHB has not made a decision to cut services

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  3. Canterbury DHB has not made a decision to cut services

Tuesday 16 February 2016Media release2 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 District Health Board chair, Murray Cleverley says the Board has not made a decision to cut mental health services.

“We will continue to provide the services our community needs. We are in ongoing discussions with the Ministry of Health to ensure we reach a point where we are financially and clinically sustainable,” Mr Cleverley says.

“I am incredibly proud of the way our own teams and the many primary and community-based mental health providers have worked to meet the increased demand for mental health services we have experienced in Canterbury since the quakes.”

Mr Cleverley says Canterbury DHB is not operating in a business as usual environment.

“And with Sunday's quake, we know the demand for a range of our mental health services is expected to increase further,” he says.

Mr Cleverley says one of his biggest concerns is for the wellbeing of staff working across our health system, who have been under incredible pressure for a sustained period of time.

“Many services, particularly those providing treatment, care and support for young people, are at capacity,” he says.

“We are committed to continue to provide the best access to mental health services that we can with the funding we have available.”

ENDS

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Page last updated: 19 October 2022

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