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

New to Canterbury? ​Register with a General Practice team for your health care needs

When settling in Canterbury you need to register with a General Practice team. This team will become your first point of contact for health advice and care.

Once registered/enrolled you can also call your General Practice Team 24 hours a day seven days a week, for free health care advice. After-hours your call will be answered by a registered nurse who can advise on what to do, and where to go if you need to be seen by a doctor.

To enrol with a doctor, you need to choose a General Practice that is accepting new patients, you can contact a general practice to check their current situation.

If the practice is accepting new patients, you will need to complete and sign a form which the doctor, nurse or medical centre receptionist will give you. The form will require you to provide some personal details such as name, age, date of birth, address and ethnicity. You can find contact details for local General Practices by using our General Practice Finder Map.

You can also visit a PHO website for more information about enroling with a medical practice:

Pegasus Health General Practices

Christchurch PHO General Practices

Waitaha Primary Health – Enrolment

For after-hours care there are three clinics in Christchurch you can visit. They are equipped to provide urgent medical care, treat fractures, broken bones, wound care, minor surgery and more..

You can find out more after hours care in this brochure, New to Canterbury? Register with a General Practice team for your health care needs (PDF, 440KB)

Page last updated: 19 January 2022

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