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

COVID-19 Alert Level Four – Updated hospital and clinic visitor policy

Thursday 26 March 2020Media 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.

The DHB's visitor policy has again been updated as we navigate our way through COVID-19 alert level four

Canterbury and West Coast DHBs Chief Executive David Meates has today announced further significant changes to the DHB’s visitor policy in response to COVID-19 (coronavirus).

“We are navigating our way through an extraordinary situation where we must examine our policies to enable us to care for those people who are in hospital in the best possible way.

“To this end our new visitor policy is designed to protect those who are receiving care in our facilities. It is a policy with tiaki (protect), manaaki (care and support) and aroha (love) at its core.

“Now is the time for our Canterbury and West Coast communities to step up and help us protect and care for all those in our care during these challenging times by following this updated visitor policy, says David.

The following changes apply with immediate effect and until further notice

In line with the Government’s directive that we are to escalate to COVID-19 alert level 4 protocol, all Canterbury and West Coast DHB facilities have adopted a no-visitors policy, with only a few notable exceptions.

The exceptions to the no visitor policy include:

  • A nominated person supporting a terminally ill patient through their end of life care
  • A parent/guardian who is supporting a child
  • The chosen support person of a woman who is giving birth. This does not apply to the woman’s postnatal stay however, and no visitors will be permitted during this stage of the woman’s care.

The decision about whether exceptional circumstances apply outside of these exemptions is at the discretion of the Charge Nurse/Midwife Manager or another lead clinician.

In all exceptions where a visitor is allowed to access any DHB facility, appropriate screening will take place before they are allowed to enter the care environment to ensure they are well, have clean hands and are using appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

“It’s vital that we reduce the numbers of people coming into our facilities to reduce the opportunity for any infections to spread. I would like to thank people in advance for their cooperation and playing their part to keep our patients safe,” David says.

For people with outpatient appointments, if you are unwell or have potentially been exposed to anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, please do not come in unless it’s an emergency. Call the phone the number on your appointment letter. They may be able to arrange a phone or video consultation as an alternative to a face to face appointment.

Only people with symptoms should call Healthline’s COVID-19 line on 0800 358 5453.

ENDS

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Page last updated: 30 July 2020

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