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 Māori Health Plan approved

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  3. West Coast Māori Health Plan approved

Thursday 25 August 2016Media release2 minutes to read

The West Coast health system is doing well in its planning and implementation for Māori health, the Ministry of Health has said in approving the area's Māori Health Plan.

In a letter to the DHB Chief Executive David Meates and Board Chair Peter Ballantyne, the Ministry has applauded the DHB particularly for exceeding two of the Māori health indicator targets around breast screening and immunisation.  The DHB exceeded the target (70%) for Māori women breast screened between March 2015 and March 2016. The West Coast screening rate was 73%.

The DHB also exceeded the target (95%) for immunisation – 100% of eight month-old West Coast Māori babies were fully immunised at March 2016.

“Your DHB has achieved the highest coverage rate across all DHBs,” the Ministry's letter said.

General Manager Maori Health Gary Coghlan says the plan is collectively owned by all those delivering health services on the West Coast, including Māori health provider Poutini Waiora, the West Coast Primary Health Organisation, and Community and Public Health, along with pharmacies and other health providers.

“The West Coast Māori Health Action Plan maps clear and defined pathways that enable the delivery of accessible and appropriate health services for all Māori who live on Te Tai Poutini. In line with its responsibility the DHB is using this Action Plan to challenge its performance and also that of its providers, in relation to Māori health,” Mr Coghlan says.

“The statistics for Māori health on the Coast paint a sobering picture. We must improve those and be held accountable for doing so.

“Of course we are proud of increasing breast screening for our Māori wahine, and reaching 100% immunisation for our Māori babies. There's other targets we need to focus on, around reducing the number of Māori smoking, ensuring more Māori are getting heart and diabetes checks, and also making sure Māori are connecting with health services when they have a need.”

Full information on the West Coast DHB's Māori Health Plan can be found on this website.

Ends

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Page last updated: 6 May 2019

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