VISITING HOSPITAL

All hospital visitors are encouraged to wear a medical face mask. Expand this message for information about visiting hospital. 

Last updated:
31 October 2024

Some visitor restrictions for all Health New Zealand | 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 we encourage 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 are advised to not visit our facilities if they are unwell. We advise that you 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 encouraged to be worn at all sites. Masks will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • Please practice hand hygiene with provided alcohol-based hand rub/gel

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 a surgical mask as a minimum – please use surgical masks provided.

All of our Hospitals

Visiting hours for our hospitals have returned to pre COVID-19 hours.

All visitors are encouraged to wear a medical face mask.

Parents/caregivers can be with their child in hospital and visitors are now allowed, except for the Children’s Haematology and Oncology Day stay where visitor restrictions might apply.

Patients and visitors can also read the additional COVID-19 related visiting guidelines .

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury Pānui Monday 5 May 2025

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Monday 5 May 2025Waitaha Canterbury Pānui2 minutes to read

In this edition of Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury Pānui

In this week’s issue of the Pānui, we celebrate International Day of the Midwife and Kathleen Maki, District Chief Midwife Canterbury and West Coast shares a few words on the profession and its significance.

People waiting for treatment for anxiety received it much faster and experienced a significant reduction in their symptoms thanks to an innovative initiative. During a service planning day in the Anxiety Disorders Service (ADS) at Hillmorton, Consultant Clinical Psychologist Alison Alexander proposed to pilot an initiative recruiting clients directly from the waitlist into group therapy.  

A visit from a band of superheroes has lifted the spirits of sick children at Christchurch Hospital. The superheroes, aka young future doctors from the Paediatric Interest Group, visited Wards A7 and B7, the Child Haematology and Oncology Centre, Children’s Emergency Care handing out stickers, masks, and smiles. 

Julie Dockrill, Ashburton Community Birthing Unit Manager is featured in this week’s One min with…

Children who need regular dressings for burns or complex wounds are avoiding the need for it to be done in theatre under anaesthetic thanks to an initiative in Ward B7. The Christchurch Hospital ward is the South Island centre for all complex surgical and burns care for children up to the age of 16. 

Monday 5 May is the annual World Health Organization (WHO) Hand Hygiene Day. Every year, the World Health Organization (WHO) runs the Save lives: Clean your hands campaign to promote the use of hand hygiene in health care facilities and beyond.

You can read the Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury Pānui online.

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Page last updated: 5 May 2025

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