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

Public meeting about health services for Cashmere and Spreydon residents

Wednesday 17 August 2016Media 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.

Cashmere and Spreydon residents will have a chance to find out what's happening with health facilities in their area at a public meeting being held on Tuesday 23 August.

David Meates, Canterbury DHB chief executive says a meeting was needed after some confusion had recently been created within the community as part of a Community Board member's election campaign.

“This has created a number of unrealistic expectations and a lot of confusion with regard to how we plan and fund health services for the entire Canterbury population. We hope this meeting will provide the opportunity to set the record straight.”

Mr Meates says The Princess Margaret Hospital (TPMH) sustained significant damage in the February 22 earthquake. “The level of damage was a major reason for fast-tracking the new Burwood facility and the move to the new corporate offices at 32 Oxford Terrace,” he says. “The DHB has been very open and transparent about the future of our facilities and the TPMH site.”

Mr Meates says while TPMH was the main site for Older Persons Health for the Canterbury population from Kaikoura to Ashburton, it's never had emergency or general practice services and it had very limited outpatient and private x-ray services.

“The Christchurch South suburbs have a multitude of general practice and community health providers in the immediate vicinity, offering services from blood testing to pharmacy and physiotherapy,” he says.

“At the public meeting we will be discussing how the Canterbury Health System operates and talk about challenges and opportunities ahead. We'll talk about the services still based at The Princess Margaret Hospital along with the time-frame for the Board to make decisions on the future of the TPMH site.”

The public meeting is at the Cashmere Club, 50 Colombo Street from 7pm until 8pm, with tea and coffee available from 6:45pm on Tuesday 23 August 2016.

ENDS

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Page last updated: 19 October 2022

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