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

Buller Health’s acute care service to operate under alternate plans in response to limited staffing

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Thursday 20 June 2024Health news4 minutes to read

Buller Health will be introducing alternate care plans to its acute care service to accommodate limited staffing.

From 8:30am through to 6pm on Friday (21 June), the Acute Stabilisation Unit (ASU) will be open for acute presentations but closed for admissions. Face-to-face nurse appointments and GP appointments (face-to-face and remote) will continue to be available at Buller Medical Centre up until 4.30pm on this day.

Overnight (6pm – 6am) from Sunday (23 June) through to Tuesday (25 June), the ASU will also be open for presentations but closed for admissions. The urgent weekend clinics (Saturday and Sunday) will be running as planned.

“To ensure that Buller residents continue to have access to acute care services, we have been working with Hato Hone St John to identify a viable solution. As a result, we have Extended Care Paramedics from Hato Hone St John joining our Buller Health ASU team from this Friday evening through to Tuesday, 2 July,” says Philip Wheble, Health New Zealand’s Associate Director of Operations for Te Tai o Poutini West Coast.

Hato Hone St John Extended Care Paramedics (ECPs) are registered paramedics who assess and treat patients with non-urgent health needs. They’ll then send an ambulance care summary to the patient’s GP and can refer the patient to other health providers if needed. ECPs can help free up emergency ambulances for patients with life-threatening conditions while providing face-to face care in the community. More information – ECPs | Hato Hone St John.

“The reality is that in situations where we have reduced staffing capacity, it is clinically unsafe to continue providing a service. While we understand that this situation can be unsettling for our Westport residents, we are very fortunate to have Extended Care Paramedics from Hato Hone St John coming on board to support our Buller Health team. As a result, Westport residents can be reassured that if they need medical care this is available 24/7.” says Mr Wheble.

Remember, if you or one of your whānau have an emergency or urgent health need, please dial 111 and ask for an ambulance.

  • Hato Hone St John will continue to provide usual emergency response services.
  • Anyone needing admission will be transferred to Greymouth’s Te Nīkau Hospital.

All other services like primary practice, outpatient clinics, allied health and district nursing continue to be available.

For appointments, enquiries, prescriptions, or results please phone Buller Medical Centre on 03 788 9277 during weekday opening hours (Monday – Friday 8:45am – 5:00pm).

Trusted health advice

  • If you are feeling unwell with any condition, you can phone Healthline on 0800 611 116 for free health advice 24/7 or your general practice team to discuss your situation and symptoms rather than visiting in person. This will ensure that you get to access appropriate treatment and medication to help you stay well, even if you are at home isolating.
  • Ka Ora, a new rural after-hours virtual telehealth service providing virtual GP consultations is available for eligible rural communities. People can access the service by calling 0800 2 KA ORA (0800 252 672) *fees apply for some people.
  • For pregnancy support and advice over the phone, please call your midwife/LMC (Lead Maternity Carer).
  • If you have questions about your young child or baby’s health phone Plunketline on 0800 933 922 to speak to a Plunket nurse.
  • You might also like to try a virtual consultation with a New Zealand registered health practitioner without seeing them in person. This is also called a virtual consult or telehealth. You can find a list of virtual care providers on healthify.nz.
  • You can also visit our HealthInfo website or your community pharmacy for health advice. HealthInfo is a health information website that has information specific to the West Coast. It is written and approved by local doctors, practice nurses, hospital clinicians, and other healthcare professionals and features a mix of health information, fact sheets on different topics, and descriptions of local health services.
  • For COVID-19 health advice 24/7 please call 0800 358 5453.
  • If you’re worried about yourself, or someone in your whānau who has a respiratory illness, see the checklist here of symptoms to watch out for, and when you should seek medical advice.

Remember, if you or a member of your whānau are injured or experiencing severe symptoms, it’s critical that you call 111.

ENDS

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Page last updated: 20 June 2024

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