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 .

Health advice for anyone coming down with winter bugs

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Friday 10 August 2018Media 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.

If you're feeling under the weather it's important to seek health advice sooner rather than later – don't wait for things to get worse.

With winter bugs doing the rounds that's one of the messages from Canterbury DHB Chief Medical Officer, Dr Sue Nightingale.

“Health advice comes in many forms, and if you're coming down with a cold, cough or sore throat, there are a number of ways you can get practical information on what to do.

  • Check out HealthInfo Canterbury www.healthinfo.org.nz and search away. There's all manner of practical advice for managing colds, sore throats and coughs.
  • For common winter ailments, your community pharmacy can help with advice and a range of over the counter medications to help alleviate symptoms.
  • Remember at this time of year your general practice team will be busy so book early to get an appointment at a time to suit you.
  • Don't wait till you run out of your regular medications before ordering a repeat prescription – get in early.
  • Canterbury is fortunate to have a number of general practices offering extended hours – details are available on this website.
  • And remember for #care around the clock, dial your usual general practice team phone number – even when they're closed – and you can be put through to a nurse who can provide free health advice.  If it's urgent and you need to be seen, they can tell you what to do and where to go.
  • If you want to find out more about the #care around the clock nurses who provide free health advice over the phone after-hours, watch the video.

Finally, it's not too late to get your flu immunisation – it's available free for all pregnant women and all people aged over 65 and for many people with certain long-term health conditions. Ask your general practice team or community pharmacy for more information.  

A list of the community pharmacies in Canterbury who are providing influenza vaccinations this year is available on our flu free website www.flufree.co.nz.

“It takes up to two weeks after having your flu shot for you to be protected, so the sooner you have it, the sooner you'll have the best protection available,” Dr Nightingale said.

ENDS

If you would like to use any care around the clock graphics, or ‘bug' illustrations from the www.flufree.co.nz website, please let us know and we can provide a high resolution files to you.

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Page last updated: 19 October 2022

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