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 Serious Adverse Events 2017/18

Friday 7 December 2018Media 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.

Inpatient falls and pressure injuries continue to be the two major serious adverse events reported by Canterbury DHB for the 2017/18 financial year.

The release of a Serious Adverse Events Report by each DHB is an initiative led by the Health Quality and Safety Commission. The reports highlight events which have resulted in significant additional treatment, major loss of function, are life threatening or have led to an unexpected death.

Of the 82 adverse events identified as serious by Canterbury DHB, 50 were patients who had a fall while in hospital and 14 were hospital-acquired pressure injuries.

Canterbury DHB Chief Medical Officer Dr Sue Nightingale says the Canterbury Health System has made great progress in reducing the harm caused by falls but it's still a major cause of harm, both in hospitals and in the community. 

“We recognise the impact falls continue to have on the community and continue to implement a number of initiatives in our hospitals that have come from the work our Hospital Falls Prevention Steering Group have undertaken.

“The initiatives that we have up and running in our hospitals focus on the patient recovery model, including thorough assessments of a patient’s mobility needs to get them up and moving, with the required support identified to prevent falls,” Sue says.

Nationwide, there was an increase in reported events, with the highest reported event category related to clinical management, including falls and pressure injuries.

As noted by Health Quality and Safety Commission Chair Professor Alan Merry, “several factors are likely to have influenced this increase, including changes in reporting requirements and the Commission’s quality improvement programmes placing a spotlight on specific areas. In addition, staff have reported more events because DHBs have worked diligently to increase their ability to recognise and report adverse events.”

Sue Nightingale agrees and says “at Canterbury DHB the implementation of an electronic incident reporting system enables staff to report adverse events. By looking into the factors that contributed to these events and reviewing what happened we can learn and improve our systems and processes to make them safer.”

“The emphasis is on improving systems to reduce the chance of something similar happening in the future. While we aim for zero harm, having a culture where staff are encouraged and supported to report adverse events is vital to ensure the quality and safety of our treatment and care is constantly improving,” says Sue.

ENDS

More information: Canterbury DHB Serious Adverse Events Reports are available in our online Document Library.

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Page last updated: 19 October 2022

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