HOSPITAL VISITING

All hospital visitors are recommended to wear a medical face mask. For more information about visiting: Visitors and family. See our COVID-19 page for general COVID-19 advice, detailed hospital visiting guidelines and COVID-19 tests.

See West Coast COVID-19 vaccination clinics for info on vaccinations link COVID-19 Vaccination • West Coast • Healthpoint

Last updated:
16 September 2022

Fewer visitor restrictions now apply

For visitors to all facilities (effective from and last updated on 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

Children’s ward
Division: Children's Health

  1. Home
  2. Health services directory
  3. Children's health
  4. Children’s ward

About the Children’s Ward

Children up to 15 years old who are patients at Te Nīkau, Grey Hospital & Health Centre stay in the children’s ward on the facility’s ground floor.

We encourage family-centred care and therefore ask you to stay with your child and participate in their care. One of the children’s legal guardians must be present to give consent for procedures.

  • Nappies
  • Clean pyjamas
  • Favourite toy or cuddly
  • Baby’s bottle or feeder cup with favourite drink
  • Toothbrush

While staying with your child we expect you to be responsible for your child’s behaviour.

Please feel free to go for a walk or take a break. Please tell staff if you are going somewhere or taking your child for a walk.

If you and your child are in isolation, please follow the unit’s requirements.

Parents, caregivers and family members are welcome to visit at any time.

If your child is staying in at the facility overnight, we provide a bed for one caregiver.

A social worker is available to discuss any needs or problems you may have.

Meals are provided for the child. Hot and cold drinks are available at all times.

Please check with us what your child is allowed to eat or drink before giving them anything. You can buy extra food from the cafeteria.

Please note: We do not supply meals for caregivers. There is a supermarket and service station two minutes’ walk from the facility.

Te Nīkau, Grey Hospital & Health Centre is a smoke free facility. So we ask for no smoking anywhere on this facility’s campus. We offer a quit smoking programme – “Quit for Our Kids”.

Page last updated: 29 July 2020

Is this page useful?