The safety, health and wellbeing of our patients, staff and medical specialists are of utmost importance to us. Please refer below for the latest guidance on our management of Covid-19 and what this means for your surgery.
Everyone coming to Mercy Hospital is required to;
- wear a mask or provide evidence of a mask exemption; and
- practice good hand hygiene
We request that children over 8 years of age wear a mask.
Surgery post Covid-19 Infection:
If you have had Covid-19 please discuss this with your surgeon or your surgeon’s rooms. Current guidance suggests it may be best to defer surgery following recovery from Covid-19 as follows:
- Non-urgent minor surgery may be delayed for a minimum of four weeks.
- Non-urgent major surgery may be delayed for a minimum of seven weeks.
Those with ongoing symptoms may benefit from further delay.
Prior to coming into hospital:
A Rapid Antigen Test will be required before your surgery/procedure at Mercy Hospital or Manaaki. Patients who have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 30 days do not require a test.
If you live in Dunedin you can be tested the day(s) prior to your admission at Unichem Knox Pharmacy, Mon - Fri (8am - 6pm) or Saturday (9am - 5pm). If you are being admitted on a Monday a test can be done on the Saturday prior to the Monday. The test involves having a swab put into your nose. Results take 15 minutes and will be texted to you by the pharmacy.
If you live out of Dunedin and are being admitted in the afternoon you can get your test at Knox the morning of your surgery. If you cannot do this, you will be tested on arrival at Mercy Hospital.
Children under 12 are not required to be tested. If an accompanying adult is staying overnight or longer with a patient they will be required to have a Rapid Antigen test. If it is a day case procedure both the child and parent will be screened but are not required to be tested.
Patient visitors:
We have no restrictions on patient visitors. For the safety of our patients and staff please do not visit the hospital if you are feeling unwell.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Preadmission Team on 03 467 6650.