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

CEO Update – Monday 22 July 2019

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Monday 22 July 2019Waitaha Canterbury Pānui1 minute to read

In this edition of the CEO Update…

Chief Executive David Meates takes a look at the pressure on the Canterbury Health System as winter ailments continue to impact every part of the system, and shows how population growth and bed shortages are contributing to the pressure. He promotes the in-home care people can access so they can return to their homes sooner or avoid hospital altogether. He also praises the teams involved in responding to the explosion in Northwood last week.

This issue also promotes World Hepatitis Day on Sunday 28 July, explores the training unit helping to build capacity in Specialist Mental Health Services, shares a special donation of socks to Emergency Department patients, reports on a physician's experience working with world leaders at the Mayo Clinic, provides an update about research into the causes of anorexia, and much more.

You can read the Canterbury DHB CEO Update in two different formats:

View on issuu.com Download PDF (5MB)

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Page last updated: 15 April 2020

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