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

First patients make the move to Waipapa

Monday 16 November 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.

A Haematology patient is moved from the existing Christchurch Hospital over to the new Waipapa facility

The first relocation of patients from existing wards at Christchurch Hospital over to the brand new Waipapa building have taken place today.

Our Haematology and Oncology wards have now finished the huge undertaking of moving their patients, with approximately 24 patients making the journey over to Waipapa.

Our Radiology services are now fully operational in Waipapa and ready to image patients as the various wards relocate to Waipapa over the next two weeks.

Canterbury DHB Director of Nursing Lynne Johnson says it was an exciting day for both patients and staff making the move to brand new facilities.

“The relocation of wards to a new facility is a huge undertaking and our teams have been so impressed by the commitment of our staff, the effort that has gone in to planning these moves and the support from all over the health system to enable a smooth transition.

“With further moves ahead of us over the next couple of weeks, we will be able to apply our learnings from this move,” says Lynne.

The move from the existing wards takes patients on a 8-10 minute journey from the existing wards of Christchurch Hospital, through the new ‘linkway’ and on to Waipapa.

Haematology Charge Nurse Manager Sally Braycotton who was a key part of the ward’s relocation to Waipapa today says it was quite a task to move sometimes quite unwell patients from one hospital building to the other.

“We have a complex mix of patients in Haematology and there has been a substantial amount of planning to execute the moves and safely transport our patients to Waipapa.

“What makes it all worth it is the smiles we saw on the patients’ faces today as they are whisked away from the existing Christchurch Hospital to the brand new sparkling wards of Waipapa!” Sally says.

Haematology patient Tane Loper was one of the first patients to make the move to Waipapa, and once he was settled in to his new room he told us how impressed he was with the new space.

“It’s got all the mod-cons and is very tidy, it’s awesome. The best thing about it is the view from the rooms, they’ve done well designing it.

“There’s heaps of room. I’m blown away. It’s actually a whole heap better than I thought it would be!” Tane said.

A number of other wards and departments will also be making the move to Waipapa over the next two weeks including ICU and our children’s wards.

The new Emergency Department will be open on the ground floor of Waipapa at 7.30am on Wednesday 18 November.

ENDS

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Page last updated: 17 April 2023

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