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

Ongoing testing at Christchurch Hospital Hagley to assure high quality standards are met

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Tuesday 12 November 2019Media release2 minutes to read

The migration of services to Christchurch Hospital Hagley has been delayed

The Ministry of Health and Canterbury DHB say the migration of services to Christchurch Hospital Hagley has been delayed as testing and checking is ongoing.  

It’s important we take the time to ensure the finishing work, testing and commissioning of the new hospital is completed to a high standard, says Michelle Arrowsmith, Deputy Director, DHB Performance, Support and Infrastructure.  

“It’s disappointing there are further delays with finishing Christchurch Hospital Hagley, however, both the Ministry and Canterbury DHB are committed to getting this important process right.

“This is the largest hospital ever built in New Zealand. It is a highly complex project involving a large number of subcontractors as well as our main contractor CPB.

“A build of this size requires a significant amount of checking and documentation as part of commissioning. This process is taking longer than expected. As a result of some of the testing, we have found a number of issues that need to be rectified.

“For example, we are still waiting for test results on the small batch of brackets holding the panels above the main entrance. We’re also doing an audit of the passive fire systems, as well as programming the Building Management System.

“It’s important we take the time to get this right to ensure we deliver a high quality safe facility for people in Canterbury. As a result, we have agreed with Canterbury DHB to delay our handover of the building until next year,” says Michelle Arrowsmith.

Canterbury DHB Chief Executive, David Meates, says while it’s disappointing as the teams are looking forward to moving into the new hospital, it’s important the necessary time is taken to ensure the hospital is fully completed.

“We have always been clear that we need to have the building completed, fully commissioned, cleaned and with sufficient time for staff orientation and training to be completed before we move in.

“Both the Ministry and Canterbury DHB are very clear that a delay is preferable to moving patients into an unfinished hospital. Patient and staff safety is paramount.

“An update on timings will be provided next month,” says David Meates.

ENDS

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Page last updated: 12 November 2019

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