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.
Under the Covid-19 Protection Framework (traffic light system) 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.
To help us support patient care, patients will also be asked their Covid-19 vaccination status, you can choose not to provide this information.
If you have had Covid-19 since receiving your surgery date please contact your surgeon to check this date is still appropriate. For some procedures evidence suggests it is best to defer surgery following recovery from Covid-19.
All workers and contractors entering our hospitals will also be asked Covid-19 screening questions.
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 28 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.
Coming into hospital:
On arrival at Mercy Hospital, we ask that you contact Reception on (03) 464 0107 to receive further instructions. Where possible, we ask that you wait in your car until you are called into the hospital, as this helps us avoid having too many people in the admission area at any one time.
Admission to Mercy Hospital and Manaaki by Mercy will be via the Ambulance entrance. On arrival, you will be asked Covid-19 screening questions and, if required, be tested for Covid-19 prior to your admission.
During your stay:
While you are a patient in Mercy/Manaaki, we will ask you to wear a mask to protect yourself and those around you. We request that children over 8 years of age wear a mask.
Patient visitors:
Under Red and Orange settings, patients are restricted to one visitor at any one time. It is preferable that your visitor comes in after your surgery, unless the patient is a child or requires additional support prior to surgery.
Patient’s visitors will be asked Covid screening questions by our Reception staff.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Preadmission Team on 03 467 6650.