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 .

New waiata released to encourage children and their families to get vaccinated

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Thursday 10 March 2022Media 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THIS IS AN ARCHIVED PAGE. The advice and information contained in this page may not be current and it should only be used for historical reference purposes.

Vaccines

A new waiata has been released to encourage all our whānau to get vaccinated, including their tamariki.

A new waiata has been released to encourage all our whānau to get vaccinated, including their tamariki.

Dr Seán MacPherson, Consultant Haematologist at Canterbury DHB was approached by a colleague who floated an idea about writing a song to encourage families to all get vaccinated including their tamariki. This is not the first time he has written one to promote a health message, so he was on board straight away.

“Songs are a great way to share messages, and we have a great message here. We can all protect each other, our whānau, and tamariki if we get vaccinated,” says Dr Seán MacPherson.

He collaborated with Morehu Solomon (Te Arawa, Ngati Kahungunu, Ngati Porou) who brought his expertise as an educator to the waiata and shared the message in Te Reo Māori.

“E te iwi e whakarongo mai. Kia kaha, kia toa, kia manawanui,” says Morehu Solomon.

“I’m asking everyone to listen, be strong, be firm and be big of heart. We have had it up to here with the virus. We need to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect the people we love.”

The New Zealand Army Band stepped in to provide the musical accompaniment and, in collaboration with the Burnham School kapa haka group, produced a video to bring the song to life.

Major Graham Hickman, Director of Music at the New Zealand Army Band, says he is pleased that they could play their part in sharing the message in a creative way.

“We are all part of the team. We want to see New Zealand come out of this pandemic stronger than ever because we know we worked hard to protect each other,” says Major Graham Hickman.

Dr Seán MacPherson asks people to consider their whole family, their colleagues, friends and the wider community.

“I think we all want to do the right thing. Vaccinating against COVID-19 will help minimise the impacts of COVID-19 and reduce hospitalisation so we can continue caring for the people who truly need it the most.”

The song is now published and can be shared via this link: https://fb.watch/bDMLl71bZr/

ENDS

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Page last updated: 27 February 2024

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