Hawke’s Bay Hospital’s Emergency Department will continue to have a strict no visitor or support person policy in place during Alert Level 2 which will come into effect as of 11:59pm this evening. 

Chief operating officer Chris Ash said the size of the ED waiting room made it impossible to maintain physical distancing from other patients if there were visitors and support people in such a small area. 

Discretion would be applied for children and people who had special care needs or disabilities, he said. 

In other ward hospital areas, including the intensive care unit and rural facilities, it will be one visitor at a time. More than one person will be able to visit during the day, but each person can only visit once a day. 

All visitors must sign in using the COVID tracer app or provide their details on arrival.  Visitors must also wear a mask and anyone who forgets a mask will be provided with one.

Mr Ash says it remains vitally important no one who is unwell visits family or friends in the hospital.

Hawke’s Bay Hospital’s café, ZACS, will be closed to the public. The hospital chapel will remain open, but with strict limits to the number of people allowed inside. 

For people coming to a DHB facility for an outpatient, radiology, or laboratory appointment, they should come alone, unless advised to bring someone with them. 

Exceptions may be applied to children and/or anyone with a disability or needing assistance. 

Patients can still use DHB owned iPads to video call family members from a bedside stand, using the DHB’s free Wi-Fi, if they wish to virtually visit family who live out of the region or overseas, he said.

Visitors should follow social distancing rules and make sure their hands were thoroughly washed or cleaned with hand sanitiser before and after visiting.

Anyone unwell presenting to the Emergency Department should check locations of interest BEFORE coming to ED. This helps speed up the triage process in ED, as the department will need to run through this checklist with you on arrival.

At Level 2, City Medical will offer a more "normal-looking service" but says they will still need to lean on their patient’s understanding for a bit longer;

There are still some significant constraints on how many people can be in the clinic at any time due to social distancing rules. 

• They are open to walk-in patients, appointments are no longer needed
• All emergencies will be accommodated
• They are mandated to keep patients distanced to 2 metres, meaning they will become “full” very quickly when busy
• · All patients will be screened by a nurse on arrival, some may still need to wait in their cars if well enough to do so
• Anyone with non-urgent matters (such as routine scripts and sick notes) is encouraged to contact City Medical by phone at which point they can arrange a doctor call or online consult for this.
• All patients must wear a mask while at the clinic
• · Some patients considered at high risk of COVID19 may be sent home for follow up by the community testing centre if they present unwell.

"Once again, we are really grateful for the understanding that the people of Napier have shown us operating at level 3," a spokesperson said. 

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