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

Free after hours health advice

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Thursday 27 July 2017Media release2 minutes to read

Why brave the elements, when you can access health advice from the comfort of home?

If you live in Canterbury – you have options!

  • For written health advice about a wide range of common conditions you can check out HealthInfo – Canterbury's go-to site www.healthinfo.org.nz
  • You can call your own general practice team 24/7. Dial the usual practice number after-hours and follow the instructions on the answerphone to be put through to a nurse.
    The nurse can offer free health advice – no matter what time of night! If it's urgent and you need to be seen, the nurse can tell you where to go and what to do.
    We call it #carearoundtheclock – see how it works by checking out this video which shows the after-hours triage nurses at work.

But if you do need to see a healthcare professional

  • Visit one of the extended-hours urgent medical centres:
    • The 24 Hour Surgery is now at 401 Madras Street  – it's open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
    • Moorhouse Medical is open 8am  – 8pm every day.
    • Riccarton Clinic is open 8am – 8pm every day.
  • Your pharmacist can also advise on a wide range of products to alleviate symptoms of coughs, colds, sore throats and other common conditions.
  • Emergency mental health services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week 0800 920 092.
  • If you don't have a regular doctor, search for ‘family doctors' on the Canterbury DHB website to find links to all Canterbury general practice teams.

At this time of year our hospitals are busy providing care for those who are very sick and need specialist hospital care. If you come to ED and it's not an emergency, you could be in for a long wait as those in the greatest need are always seen first.

You can save time and phone for health advice from the comfort of home – call your own general practice team 24/7.  And call sooner rather than later – don't wait for things to get worse before seeking medical advice. It's always better to nip things in the bud rather than waiting until you get so sick that hospital is the only option.

If you haven't already had your influenza immunisation, it's not too late, and it's the best protection available to keep you flu-free this winter. Talk to your general practice team and it's also available at some pharmacies.

ENDS

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Page last updated: 18 October 2018

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