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 on track to deliver more surgery

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  3. Canterbury DHB on track to deliver more surgery

Sunday 10 May 2015Media 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.

New hospital facilities will give Canterbury DHB the capacity to perform an extra 6000 surgeries and procedures a year once up and running.

With the ageing population and increase in demand, Canterbury DHB continues to increase, and plans to further increase access to surgery for its population.

Canterbury DHB is already one of the biggest providers of surgery, and the second biggest tertiary hospital, in New Zealand.

However, theatre capacity is a currently major constraint to performing more surgery in house.

At the moment Canterbury DHB has 20 operating theatres – this will increase to 28 once the new operating theatres are up and running 2018.

David Meates, Canterbury DHB chief executive, says the new theatres can't come soon enough.

“The Government's $650 million facilities redevelopment projects at Christchurch and Burwood Hospitals will allow us to do so much more for our community,” he says.

In the past year Canterbury DHB carried out 19,894 planned (elective) discharges, and at the same time carried out 22,248 acute (unplanned) surgery discharges – a combined total of 42,142 discharges for the 2013/14 year.

“Over the past nine years our volume of elective surgery discharges has increased almost 40 percent – from 14,435 in 2006/07 to 19,894 discharges last year. Much of this increase has been in complex surgery and orthopaedics.

“What makes it even more remarkable is the fact that volumes have continued to increase against a backdrop of quakes, quake repairs, and hospitals that resemble construction sites.

Mr Meates says an additional eight theatres will make a huge difference to our capacity.

“Twenty four theatres will be on the Christchurch Campus, with four at Burwood,” he says.

“Canterbury DHB recognises that health systems will always face a level of unmet need and constantly have to prioritise and reprioritise access to surgery.”

Cumulatively since 2006/7 Canterbury has provided 27,716 more elective admissions than it would have if it had continued to deliver at the same level as 2006/7*.

“This growth is set to continue, and having our new facilities on stream in 2018 will allow us to continue to provide more for the people from Canterbury and throughout the South Island who receive surgery in Christchurch,” Mr Meates says.

*This result is for the period 2007/08 to 2013/14.

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Page last updated: 19 October 2022

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