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 .

UPDATE: 25 people injured in the mosque attacks remain in Christchurch Hospital

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  3. UPDATE: 25 people injured in the mosque attacks remain in Christchurch Hospital

Saturday 23 March 2019Media release3 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THIS IS AN ARCHIVED PAGE. The advice and information contained in this page may not be current and it should only be used for historical reference purposes.

Flowers have been placed across the hospital campus by members of the public

Please attribute comment to David Meates, Chief Executive, Canterbury District Health Board

25 of the 48 people originally hospitalised after the mosque attacks on Friday, 15 March remain in Christchurch Hospital. Two more patients have been discharged since yesterday's update. Four are in critical condition in intensive care. Those injured in the attacks are our priority for specialist care, which for some includes follow-up surgery. The patients discharged will still require care and support in the community and Canterbury DHB has a number of wraparound services for patients who have recently left hospital.

A 4-year-old girl is in a critical condition in Starship Hospital in Auckland. Her father remains in a stable condition nearby in Auckland City Hospital.

Christchurch Hospital continues to be very busy, especially our Emergency Department which is always much busier at weekends. So that we can provide the best possible care for the acutely unwell patients, please phone your general practice team first if you need medical assistance – unless it’s an emergency. Call your usual GP team number day and night, and after hours a nurse will advise what to do and where to go if it’s urgent and you need to be seen right away.

Traumatic events are never easy, and it is important that we all take a moment to check-in with ourselves and our mental wellbeing. It's also a great idea to make a special effort to connect with friends and loved ones during these tough times.

One good place to get up to date information is HealthInfo. HealthInfo is a health information website for the general public, with information and advice specific to Canterbury, written by local doctors, practice nurses, hospital clinicians and other healthcare professionals. The website has a mix of health information, including factsheets on different topics and descriptions of local health services and supports. It also has links to recommended websites for further reading and research. The HealthInfo information relating to the terror attack is being updated regularly and includes a broad range of information including income support.

Another useful website is Victim Support Coping after the Christchurch mosques terrorist attacks   

Additional Information:

Anyone who needs additional support can call or text 1737 to speak with a trained counsellor. This service is free of charge and is available day and night. People can also visit the All right? website which is constantly being updated with best practice wellbeing advice.

There are also resources available online:

If you want to talk to a trained counsellor, you can phone or text 1737 to be put through to a counsellor any time of the day or night. This is a free service for everyone.

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Page last updated: 19 October 2022

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