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

West Coast DHB set to send COVID-19 appointment invitations to Group 3 Coasters

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  3. West Coast DHB set to send COVID-19 appointment invitations to Group 3 Coasters

Monday 28 June 2021Health news3 minutes to read

  • West Coast DHB set to send COVID-19 appointment invitations to Group 3 Coasters

     Please attribute the following to Ralph La Salle, Senior Responsible Officer for the COVID-19 response, West Coast DHB:

    West Coast DHB in partnership with the West Coast Primary Health Organisation (PHO) is getting ready to send invitations to approximately 9,500 Group 3 Coasters.

    When it is your turn to book an appointment, we’ll contact you directly with instructions about how to book. This will be by text, email, letter or phone call.

    West Coast people in Group 3 will be able to book their vaccination prior to the end of July. Vaccine invitations for Group 3 will start being sent out from Monday 5 July.

    If you’re in Group 3 and haven’t yet been contacted to book your vaccination, you don’t need to do anything right now. There is enough vaccine for everyone, please be patient, we’ll contact you when it’s your turn.

     Group 3 includes people aged 65 and over; people with some underlying health conditions; pregnant people; people with disabilities and their carers, plus older Māori and Pacific people, the people they live with and their carers. We are also continuing to vaccinate people in Group 2 which includes frontline healthcare and disability workers as well as emergency services personnel, education personnel and essential workers such as supermarket and council employees.

    The DHB is working with the PHO and other West Coast Health System partners to ensure the successful implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination programme. This includes working with GP practices to identify areas for collaboration including the delivery of COVID-19 vaccination clinics where suitable.

    To date, there has been no vaccination wastage on the Coast, which can be attributed to the planning and implementation of the vaccination programme which factors in the number of appointments scheduled across the Coast alongside the ordering of vaccine supplies.

    As of June 23, around 5,384 Coasters have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and around 3,342 Coasters have received their second dose. We are unable to provide the specific number of vaccinations delivered to Group 2 people across the region.

    Please note that the COVID-19 vaccine data is available via the Ministry of Health’s website where it is updated weekly – https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-vaccine-data#location

    More information about getting the COVID-19 vaccine is available online:

     

    ENDS

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