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 .

Third month-long partial strike by psychologists who are members of the APEX union starts tomorrow

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Monday 30 September 2019Media 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.

A third consecutive month of industrial action by psychologists employed by Canterbury DHB who are members of the APEX union, is scheduled to begin tomorrow

Psychologists at Canterbury DHB are planning to take industrial action from 8am tomorrow. The industrial action will continue throughout October ending at 8am on Friday 1 November.

This is the third consecutive month of industrial action by psychologists (excluding interns) employed by Canterbury DHB who are members of the APEX union.

During October’s industrial action, psychologists employed by Canterbury DHB will only do a maximum of two hours face-to-face contact with patients and family members of patients, each day.

They will continue with other duties during the period of industrial action.

Psychologists work in a range of services throughout the Canterbury health system, and our contingency plans are focused on ensuring anyone who urgently needs to be seen during the strike period, receives the assessment, advice or support they need.  Some patients however, will have their appointments rescheduled.

Canterbury DHB employs 129 psychologists, and around 106 are members of the APEX union. We expect most union members will be on strike. They work in services such as specialist mental health services, diabetes, child health, respiratory and cardiology services, oncology [Cancer care], nephrology [dialysis and kidney transplants], older persons’ health and rehabilitation and are based at Christchurch Hospital, Burwood Hospital, Hillmorton Campus, The Princess Margaret Hospital and in a range of community settings.

Canterbury DHB Acting Executive Director of Allied Health, Scientific and Technical, Sandy Clemett, said anyone who has a pre-booked appointment with a DHB psychologist that has to be postponed and rescheduled due to the strike, will be contacted and an alternative appointment would be arranged. 

“We respect the right of our staff to strike and I apologise in advance for the inconvenience caused by these changes to our usual service,” Sandy Clemett said.  We have plans in place to ensure we are able to respond to any urgent needs for psychological assessments that may occur during this period of industrial action.   Our contingency plans include utilising other appropriately qualified and experienced health professionals to see patients during the strike period. 

ENDS

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Page last updated: 19 August 2021

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