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 recognised for improving staff wellbeing

Wednesday 27 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.

Canterbury DHB is among key business leaders publicly recognised for their commitment to improve staff wellbeing.

The DHB is one of three finalists in the ‘Vitae best initiative to improve employee wellness' category of the New Zealand Workplace Health & Safety Awards 2015 tonight (May 27, 2015).

David Meates, Canterbury DHB Chief Executive, says the DHB is thrilled to be a finalist for its Wellbeing Workshops held for line managers in response to post quake stressors.

“It's great news to be named a finalist in these awards but it's important to emphasise the motives behind the DHB's efforts to improve staff wellness,” Mr Meates says.

“Following the disruptions of the 2010 and 2011 seismic events, it became very clear staff were understandably struggling. So we wanted to do something about it to help them get through.”

Mr Meates says the Wellbeing Workshops are an innovative initiative with a deliberate focus on supporting line managers by providing knowledge and tools to encourage them to actively manage their emotional/mental wellbeing.

“This was not a programme designed to directly increase productivity, rather it was focused on supporting managers to remain resilient through a period of unprecedented change and by doing so achieve a ‘trickle down' effect on the wellbeing of general staff.”​

Staff are living through a massive rebuild for Christchurch and Burwood Hospitals and an extensive quake repair programme, he says.

“Many staff have already changed the location at which they work and are dealing with invasive repair work being undertaken in functioning clinical areas.”

Mr Meates says the scale of this disruption is unparalleled in the New Zealand health system.

“Outside the work environment many staff continue to face multiple ‘secondary stressors' such as dealing with the Earth Quake Commission (EQC) and insurance companies, badly damaged roads, school closures, damaged homes, anxious and upset children, and the loss of sport/recreation infrastructure.

“It's remarkable our staff have actually managed to get through as well as they have done and it's important that as employers we continue to support them so they can continue to deliver world class care to the community.”

Winners for all categories, and an overall winner, will be announced at a gala dinner in Auckland tonight, May 27, 2015.

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Page last updated: 19 October 2022

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