VISITING HOSPITAL

All hospital visitors are encouraged to wear a medical face mask. Expand this message for information about visiting hospital. 

Last updated:
31 October 2024

Some visitor restrictions for all Health New Zealand | 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 we encourage 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 are advised to not visit our facilities if they are unwell. We advise that you 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 encouraged to be worn at all sites. Masks will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • Please practice hand hygiene with provided alcohol-based hand rub/gel

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 a surgical mask as a minimum – please use surgical masks provided.

All of our Hospitals

Visiting hours for our hospitals have returned to pre COVID-19 hours.

All visitors are encouraged to wear a medical face mask.

Parents/caregivers can be with their child in hospital and visitors are now allowed, except for the Children’s Haematology and Oncology Day stay where visitor restrictions might apply.

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

Hand Hygiene – Spread the Message Not the Germs

Wednesday 7 November 2018Media release2 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THIS IS AN ARCHIVED PAGE. The advice and information contained in this page may not be current and it should only be used for historical reference purposes.

Canterbury DHB is getting behind this year’s Patient Safety Week (PSW 2018) topic of infection prevention and control, with the focus on good hand hygiene.

Effective hand hygiene helps stop the spread of microorganisms (‘germs’), including those that can cause antibiotic-resistant infections.

We encourage you to show your support for PSW 2018 by washing and sanitising your hands regularly, and always after going to the toilet and before eating.

Not just during patient safety week, but throughout the year the Canterbury DHB Infection, Prevention & Control Team works alongside our staff to help prevent healthcare-acquired infections and in doing so, reduces antibiotic use.

Louise Brown from the Infection Prevention and Control Team at Burwood Hospital says this approach underpins all of the work the Infection Prevention and Control Service carries out.

“Prevention of infection measures range from basic hand hygiene of staff and the isolation of patients with high-risk organisms, effective cleaning and disinfection of equipment and surfaces, right through to education, research, surveillance activity and audits.

“Good hand hygiene from patients and staff is the simplest, most effective way to prevent infections and has an important role in reducing antibiotic use,” says Louise.

Each year Patient Safety Week is promoted by the Health Quality & Safety Commission and they have produced some colourful and engaging graphics to help get this year’s message across.

For more information on this nationwide initiative you can visit the Health Quality & Safety Commission website: https://www.hqsc.govt.nz/our-work/system-safety/aotearoa-patient-safety-day/

ENDS

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Page last updated: 19 October 2022

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