Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury has relaxed its visitor policy across all its facilities.

Key changes include: Visiting hours for facilities have returned to pre COVID-19 hours, except for Christchurch Women’s Hospital.

• All visitors must wear a medical mask.

• Patients may have more than one visitor, except in some situations such as multi-bed rooms where it can cause overcrowding.

• This excludes the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit which is still parent-only visiting and Children’s Haematology and Oncology Day stay, where one parent/caregiver can attend their appointment with their child. Exceptions are by special arrangement only.

For the full visiting guidelines, go to https://www.cdhb.health.nz/your-health/hospital-services-in-canterbury/.

Senior Responsible Officer for Seasonal Pressures Becky Hickmott says with COVID-19 case numbers reducing, the decision has been made to relax restrictions for visitors to Waitaha Canterbury facilities.

“You must still wear a surgical/medical mask in our facilities and masks will be provided if you don’t have one. This helps protects us all, as we care for very unwell and vulnerable members of our community,” says Becky Hickmott.

“We know these past two years have been especially tough for patients and their families and we are pleased to be able to relax our rules for visitors.

“There are still some restrictions in place and we do ask that you don’t visit if you are unwell. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.”