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

Health advice following West Coast Floods – Update 5

Wednesday 21 July 2021Health news5 minutes to read

Wednesday 21 July 2021 – 6.00pm

Please attribute comment to Philip Wheble, Incident Controller, West Coast DHB

Westport

Progress is being made on the clean-up and drying of Buller Health and the Boilerhouse.

The eight replacement pumps for the tunnels which run under the Buller Health building have now arrived on site and efforts are ongoing to flush the heating ducts under the main building and the Foote Ward.

With regard to the Boilerhouse, which heats the health centre and generates hot water, parts are being sought and we are grateful to our own staff, FENZ and contractors who have arrived in Westport to help speed up this repair job. 

We will keep the community updated on progress and while we were hopeful to have everything up and running by next Monday, the reality is it may take a bit longer.

There are currently three patients being cared for in the makeshift ward facility at Club Buller. Acutely unwell people are being diverted direct to Te Nīkau Hospital in Greymouth.

Keep up your good hygiene habits and remember to scan in wherever you are

With many people still in makeshift accommodation, bunking in with whānau and friends, or living in close quarters in a welfare centre, the need for scrupulous hand hygiene, covering coughs and sneezes, disposing of tissues in a bin and staying away from others if you’re feeling under the weather is so important.

Washing and drying your hands or using hand gel is essential:

  • after using the toilet
  • before eating
  • after coughing or sneezing into your hand
  • after coming into contact with flood water
  • after handling items sodden by the floods

If you have a cough or cold please wear a mask or face covering when around other people.

And if you start feeling worse please seek medical attention sooner rather than later.

Finally, please keep scanning in wherever you go, particularly to places where large numbers of people are gathering.

Need health care?

If you are registered with Coast Medical, they are still open

Please contact the Coast Medical team on 03 789 5000 to arrange an appointment, and after-hours call the usual practice number for free health advice. After hours you’ll be put through to a nurse who can tell you what to do and where to go if you need to be seen.

If you or your whānau are registered with Buller Medical Centre and need to see a doctor or nurse a pop-up drop-in Urgent Care clinic has opened at 51 Russell Street, Westport. No appointments are necessary and everyone is welcome. If you have any respiratory symptoms please wear a mask or face covering.

The drop-in clinic is staffed by a GP and nurses and is open from 10am – 4.30pm until Friday and will also be open from 10am – 1pm this Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th.

*Note the entrance to the clinic is at the rear of the building so please use the driveway on the left-hand side of the building (next to the Salvation Army hall).

People enrolled at Buller Medical can still access free health advice after hours by calling 03 788 9277 and following the instructions on the answerphone.

If it’s an emergency, please call 111 – emergency services are operating

For health advice at any time

  • Call Healthline on 0800 611 116 – calls are answered 24/7. If you need to be seen, they will tell you what to do and where to go.
  • For wellbeing support you can talk to a counsellor free of charge, call or text 1737 any time of the day or night.
  • For pregnancy support and advice over the phone, please call your LMC/midwife.
  • 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 can also visit our HealthInfo website for trusted health advice on a range of issues.
  • Buller Pharmacy in Westport, at 168 Palmerston Street is open for over the counter medications and health advice.

Information for people with outpatient appointments at Buller Health or GP appointments at Buller Medical (the primary care practice) this week

  • If you have a pre-booked appointment with a GP or nurse at Buller Medical or an outpatient appointment at Buller Heath this week please consider it postponed – unless you hear otherwise.
  • A limited number of outpatient appointments are going ahead at an alternative location, and anyone affected will be contacted directly.
  • Please note that there is no X-Ray facility at Buller Health this week.
  • If you need an urgent blood test or repeat prescriptions please visit the temporary Urgent Care clinic.
  • The regular Monday Buller Sexual Health Clinic has been cancelled for the next two weeks (26 July and 2 August).

 Before school checks postponed – West Coast B4School Check (B4SC) Clinic update

Our B4SC clinic planned for Wednesday, 28 July in Westport’s Salvation Army Hall has been postponed until Wednesday, 25 August.

Wellbeing support

In-person support is available via the welfare teams going out with the housing inspectors, as well as at the Hub in the NBS Theatre – please make the most of all the support options available to you at this time.  Your general practice team is also available and you can text or phone 1737 to speak to a trained counsellor 24/7.

Visitor restrictions

We currently have visitor restrictions in place to help prevent the spread of illness at all DHB facilities. We are requesting that only one person at a time comes in to visit, and that no children come in to visit our facilities. Exceptions will be made on compassionate grounds and should be discussed with the nurse in charge of the area you want to visit.

We’re recommending people wear a mask or other face covering (it can be a fabric mask or scarf but must cover your nose and mouth) when visiting family, whānau or friends at our facilities. We also ask that people only visit our facilities for essential purposes only and stay home if they are unwell.

ENDS

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Page last updated: 21 July 2021

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