Waipuna Hospice moves to Alert Level Three
As you may be aware, the Bay of Plenty is now in alert level three. We take the health and safety of our patients, visitors, and staff very seriously at Waipuna Hospice, so we are taking steps to ensure everyone’s wellbeing.
As the global pandemic continues and should the situation across our country change we want to reassure you that we are equipped to change levels quickly and efficiently if that is needed to ensure the safety of our patients, family/whanau, staff and the wider community.
At Alert Level Four You Can Expect:
- Waipuna Hospice will not be accepting new patients into our In-patient Unit in level three. This allows us to channel and focus our resources to the community.
- Other Waipuna Hospice support services, such as the Day Services Programme, grief and bereavement support groups are regretfully cancelled during level three. We have not taken this decision lightly and appreciate that this may cause some inconvenience and concern, but we feel this is a necessary step to take to protect our community.
- Face to face interactions will continue to remain limited to essential situations only in alert level three as guided by Ministry of Health advice. If our clinical staff are planning a visit with you during alert level three they will check in with you before a visit to clarify your circumstances, as well as identify if you have been exposed to anyone known to have COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms. This is to ensure we reduce any risks to our patient’s, their whānau, our staff, and the wider community.
- Visitors to Waipuna Hospice site are limited to essential only, and visitor numbers restricted. Checks will be in place to clarify your circumstances before visiting, as well as identify if you have been exposed to anyone known to have COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms.
- The opportunity for online/telemedicine consultations to be available. Please let a member of our team know if you prefer this option.
- Our staff to continue implementing strict infection control guidelines.
- Patients are to be asked to record the people they have contact with so contact tracing can be initiated immediately by the Ministry of Health if a risk is identified. We have developed a Visitor Tracing and Contact Details Form to make this easier – Our nurse will discuss this with you when they call. All members of our staff are also recording their contacts (work-related and personal) for the same reason. This reduces the risk of further spread of the virus.
- The Waipuna Hospice Charity Shops and Depot are to be closed. If you would like to arrange a free donation collection for level two, please phone our donation hotline on 07 281 1755 and we will arrange a collection date when we can.
- All volunteering to be on hold.
As we navigate through alert level three we want to sincerely thank you for your understanding and patience as we work to minimise the risks to you, our patients, your whānau, our staff and the wider community. Please don’t hesitate to talk with our team if you have any queries or concerns, if urgent issues arise out of hours we continue to have 24/7 phone support available to you on 07 552 4380.
For the most up to date advice from health officials and the government, please visit https://covid19.govt.nz/.