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

Road Accident Remembrance Day – An Opportunity to Reflect

Friday 2 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.

Road Accident Remembrance Day will take place tomorrow, 3 November 2018. This is a time for us to reflect on the lives affected by road traffic crashes – the injured people themselves, their families, health care staff, first responders and our community.

With the country’s busiest trauma centre, this opportunity to reflect is even more poignant for Canterbury DHB staff across Burwood and Christchurch Hospitals in particular, as they manage with the physical and emotional consequences of road traffic accidents on a daily basis.

Over half of all trauma injuries presenting to Christchurch Hospital are as a result of traffic accidents; whether involving people as drivers, passengers, motorcyclists, cyclists or pedestrians.

Emergency Department Clinical Director David Richards says the Emergency Department is generally where many of the injured, and their families, end up after road traffic accidents.

“Whether the injury is relatively minor or something life-altering, road traffic injuries cause distress and disruption, not just to the injured themselves, but also their families and friends and the health care staff treating them.

“Although a daily occurrence, the dedicated hospital staff are not immune to the impact of road accidents.

“Whether it be a driver of a vehicle suffering life-threatening injuries after a serious crash, a small child knocked over by a bike or an elderly woman injured reversing her car in a supermarket carpark, all of these patients require the care and attention of hospital staff,” says David.

Canterbury DHB extends its sympathies to the families of road accident victims and acknowledge the many hundreds of individuals and families living with the life-long health impacts of road accidents.

Road accidents affect individuals in different ways, and Road Accident Remembrance Day encourages us to reflect on the impacts of traffic crashes and always do our best to drive responsibly and safely.

We hope everyone can use the day to think about how their driving can impact on the lives of others if something goes wrong, so they can avoid being the cause of a serious accident.

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Page last updated: 19 October 2022

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