HOSPITAL VISITING

Hospital visiting guidelines updated 16 September 2022: Hospital visitors must wear a surgical/medical paper mask. Fabric face coverings are not acceptable.  See our COVID-19 page for general COVID-19 advice, detailed hospital visiting guidelines and COVID-19 tests.

See www.vaccinatecanterburywestcoast.nz for info on vaccinations.

Last updated:
16 September 2022

Fewer visitor restrictions now apply

For visitors to all facilities effective from 16 September 2022

Some visitor restrictions for all Te Whatu Ora Te Tai o Poutini West Coast health facilities remain in place, but we have relaxed others.

There is still a heightened risk to vulnerable people in hospital and so people must continue to wear a mask when visiting any of our facilities and follow other advice designed to keep patients, staff and other visitors safe.

Kia whakahaumaru te whānau, me ngā iwi katoa – this is 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 in single rooms may have more than one visitor while patients in multi-bed rooms can have one visitor only per patient to ensure there is no overcrowding.
  • People can have one or two support people to accompany them to outpatients appointments.
  • Women in labour in a birthing suite, in Te Nīkau Hospital’s Maternity Ward and in Buller’s Kawatiri Maternity Unit can have the usual support people, subject to space, for the duration of their stay in our facilities.
  • Eating or drinking at the bedside is at the discretion of the Clinical Nurse Manager. Visitors must not eat or drink in multibed rooms because of the increased risk when multiple people remove their 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.

Mask wearing

  • Surgical/medical masks must be worn at all sites, except in counselling, mental health and addiction services where it’s on a case-by-case agreement with patients. Masks will be provided if you don’t have one. In higher-risk environments, people, including young children, may not be able to visit if they cannot wear a mask.
  • Any member of the public with a mask exemption is welcome in all our facilities when attending to receive health care and *treatment. Please show your mask exemption card and appointment letter to staff at the entrance. *Treatment includes coming into the Emergency Department, outpatient appointments, surgery or a procedure.

Visiting patients with COVID-19

  • People are able to 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.

You must NOT visit our facilities if you

  • are COVID-19 positive
  • are unwell. Please stay home if you have a tummy bug or cold or flu/COVID-19-like symptoms (even if you’ve tested negative for COVID-19).

Te Whatu Ora West Coast Aged Residential Care facilities

Visitors are welcome at our Aged Care Residential facilities, subject to the space available. All visitors must wear a surgical mask.

More COVID-19 information

For staff

Information for health professionals has moved!

Note: Staff guidelines, educational material and policies are not on this website.

West Coast DHB staff will soon be able to access internal resources such as email and HR systems from these pages.

Staff can access the healthLearn online education platform at www.healthlearn.ac.nz

Note: you will need a healthlearn Username and Password to log in.

Like many public and private organisations across New Zealand, Te Whatu Ora has been impacted by Holidays Act 2003 compliance issues.

We’re committed to addressing these issues, to ensure current and former Te Whatu Ora staff receive their correct leave entitlements.

We will keep you informed about progress and next steps. For current employees, you can read more on your local intranet. For former employees, more information will be posted here over the coming months.

IT (ISG) support for staff

West Coast DHB staff can log IT issues and requests such as unlocking your user account on the iSupport Service Desk Portal
Note: you will need your WCDHB Username  and Password to log in.

Contact WCDHB IT Support

West Coast DHB staff can also log urgent IT issues and requests by calling or emailing the IT Service Desk.

Phone: 03 769 7611
Website Portal: iSupport Service Desk Portal

Staff can now access Max – People and Capability Service Portal for People and Capability services and information.

Note: To access this portal you will need:

  1. Your West Coast DHB user ID 
  2. Your password 

The WCDHB Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR) tool provides WCDHB staff with the ability to change/reset their WCDHB password, or unlock their account.
CDHB/WCDHB staff can reset their WCDHB network account without involving an administrator or calling the ISG Service Desk. Steps are simple and can be done from a mobile phone, or any PC connected with the Internet.

Reset your WCDHB Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR)

To reset your WCDHB password go to: https://aka.ms/sspr (instructions are below)

Register to use Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR)

  • All users must pre-register to be able to reset your password. If you have not registered, you can sign up using our registration form (instructions are below)
  • Registering for self-service password reset is currently a one-time only requirement and can take up to 10 minutes. We recommend registering on a PC/mobile phone within WCDHB network.
  • You can register with any one of the following options:
    • Phone number (company, personal, landline, mobile etc)
    • Security questions (3 security questions)

Password Self Service Help/Instructions

Instructions for both registering and resetting your password using WCDHB Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR) are below.

How to change your password using Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR) (PDF, 400KB)

How to register for Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR) (PDF, 400KB)

West Coast DHB staff benefits such as the Something for you programme are NOT LISTED on this public website.

Staff benefits in the Something for you programme can currently only be viewed on our internal website by:

  1. Using a WCDHB computer inside the CDHB computer network, or
  2. Using a MOBILEPASS or Citrix Token to log into the WCDHB network 
  3. Only once you have logged in you can view Something for you offers on the intranet (i.e. this link will not work if you are not logged in and are outside of the CDHB network).

MOBILEPASS and Citrix Tokens to enable external access for staff can be requested from ISG Service Desk.

Page last updated: 12 July 2023

Is this page useful?