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 can also read the additional COVID-19 related visiting guidelines .

Canterbury DHB hosts physiotherapy simulation course

Tuesday 18 September 2018Media 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 DHB has hosted New Zealand’s first ever Intensive Care Unit (ICU) physiotherapy simulation course.

The Physiotherapy and Critical Care Management Course, known as PaCCMan, aims to increase participants’ confidence and competence, using simulation training to improve quality of care, communication, decision making and patient management.

The Christchurch Hospital Physiotherapy Department collaborated with the Queensland Health Clinical Skills Development Service to bring PaCCMan to New Zealand, says ICU Senior Physiotherapist Sarah Fitzgerald.

“As it was the first course of its type in the country there was keen interest from physiotherapists working in ICU across the country.”

Participants from Canterbury DHB as well as other DHBs nationwide attended the course which was held in the Manawa Building.

“The state of the art facilities meant we were able to replicate an ICU environment, with the help of the coordinators and technical staff of the Clinical Skills Unit.

“The simulation suite and staff at Manawa have been critical in helping to get this course off the ground and we are very lucky to have this facility just across the road,” she says.

The two day course has strong focus on simulation training. It was designed and facilitated by Consultant Cardiothoracic Physiotherapist Peter Thomas from Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

Canterbury DHB has been granted licencing rights to run the course for the training of our own physiotherapists and physiotherapists from across New Zealand.

Sarah and her Canterbury DHB colleague, ICU Physiotherapist Maisie Farndon, were trained in running the course so they will able to facilitate it again in the future.

“The aim is to run the course for both internal and external physiotherapists at least twice a year.”

PaCCMan contributes to the learning and development of physiotherapists for work in the intensive care environment and expands their knowledge of contemporary, safe clinical practice. It includes practical sessions on assessment and clinical skills, as well as simulated experiences in providing respiratory care and rehabilitation.

It is designed for physiotherapists who have limited exposure to intensive care patient management, or want to update their knowledge of assessment and treatment processes. It allows participants to understand the complexity of inter-disciplinary working within the Intensive Care Setting, Sarah says.

ENDS

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Page last updated: 19 October 2022

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