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 thrilled with announcement of funding for new facilities

Thursday 28 February 2019Media 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.

Artist's Impression of the new facilities

Canterbury DHB Chief Executive David Meates, has welcomed today’s announcement from the Prime Minister of around $79 million to fund the construction of two new facilities for some of the region’s Specialist Mental Health Services.

“These services are currently located in outdated buildings at The Princess Margaret Hospital site, and I’m thrilled they will be moving to modern new facilities at Hillmorton.

“The demand for Canterbury’s mental health services has continued to grow in line with predictions based on international post-disaster research. Over the past eight years, our specialist mental health services have been challenged by more people needing our help than we have physical space for – and our ageing facilities are no longer fit for purpose. This has created ongoing issues.”

“Our staff are supporting 700 more people every month in our adult general mental health service than pre-quake, and 450 more people every month in our Child and Youth mental health service.

“In the past year 32,341 people received mental health support from across our health system. Almost half of this group have required our specialist mental health services in the past year. This equates to 3893 children and adolescents along with 9899 adults and 2419 older people accessing our mental services. This high demand has put considerable strain on our existing facilities and on staff delivering and managing our mental health services.

“I am thrilled with today’s important funding announcement. It gives the go-ahead for two multipurpose buildings – an Integrated Family Services Centre including purpose-designed facilities to meet the needs of the Mothers & Babies service and Eating Disorders inpatients, and a separate High and Complex Needs Unit.

“This provides a welcome boost for our specialist mental health services staff, many of whom will be relocated from The Princess Margaret Hospital into these new purpose-built facilities. It’s also a boost for our patients, both local and regional, who will benefit from the improved services these new facilities will bring.

“These two buildings will be the first steps in a full remodelling of the Hillmorton campus – a process which will, over the coming years, transform our mental health services. With 1 in 5 Cantabrians accessing mental health support, this funding and the new facilities it provides can only be seen as positive news for the wellbeing and mental health of Cantabrians,” David Meates said.

ENDS

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Page last updated: 19 October 2022

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