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 can also read the additional COVID-19 related visiting guidelines .

Fourteen measles cases now confirmed in Canterbury

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Thursday 7 March 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.
A seventh case of measles has been confirmed in Canterbury

Fourteen cases of measles have been confirmed in Canterbury

The number of confirmed cases of measles in Canterbury now stands at fourteen and is likely to rise still further over the coming days and weeks. It can now be assumed that measles is circulating widely in our community.

The best protection is for people born after 1969 to have had two MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccinations.

Canterbury Medical Officer of Health, Dr Ramon Pink says that people in their late teens and early 20s are most at risk because a higher than usual proportion of that age group didn’t have their scheduled MMR vaccinations, and because they are highly social and highly mobile.

“Anyone in this age band who isn’t certain they have had both MMRs should contact their General Practice team to arrange for an MMR vaccination – the vaccination and the appointment to have it is free.

Babies whose mother is immune will have some protection if they are currently being breastfed. For children who are too young to have had both MMRs or who cannot be immunised for other reasons, the best way to protect them is to ensure everyone around them has been vaccinated – if you can’t get it, you can’t pass it on.

“Anyone who isn’t sure if they have had both MMR vaccinations can contact their general practice team for advice,” he says.

“If you think you may have been exposed to measles or have symptoms, please call your general practice first, 24/7. Calls made to general practices after hours will be answered by a nurse who will advise you what to do and where to go if you need to be seen.

“The MMR vaccine is very effective protection and we should see this as an opportunity for us all to make sure we are up to date with our vaccinations,” Dr Pink says.

Additional measles information

Measles is a serious and highly contagious viral disease where up to 30 percent of those who catch it will develop complications – usually children under 5 and adults over the age of 20. Measles during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage, premature labour and low birth-weight in babies. Measles is spread through droplets in the air and through contact, so that anyone unprotected who has been in the same room as someone with measles will likely get it.

Measles symptoms include:

  • A respiratory type of illness with dry cough, runny nose, headache
  • Temperature over 38.5 C and feeling very unwell
  • A red blotchy rash starts on day 4-5 of the illness usually on the face and moves to the chest and arms.

More information about measles is available at http://www.immune.org.nz

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Page last updated: 30 July 2020

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