New Timaru Hospital cafeteria opens
“We are very excited to have opened up our new café today in partnership with Compass. This signals the start of what is quite an extensive refurbishment of the hospital and shows what we are trying to achieve. As we look forward to the rest of the hospital refurbishment we can now see it is going to be something quite special.
The design of the café was heavily influenced by our staff multidisciplinary working group with input from the Consumer Council and I would like to thank them and give credit to their hard work.
A good hospital café needs to be more than simply a place to refuel. It needs to encourage connection, allow space for reflection and create a sense of belonging for those who visit. It is great to see the work of the team come to life and seeing it today I am happy that it achieves its goal.
The swipe-card entry space for staff is particularly useful as it allows the team to relax away from the hustle and bustle during breaks. There is even an app for ordering coffee and food allowing staff to make the most of the down time.
During COVID-19, hospital systems learnt a lot about the risk visitors bring when they visit a hospital ward. As a result we have a strict visiting policy. Generally, between the hours of 2pm-8pm only two people at a time are able to visit a patient in the ward (see our website for exceptions). What I like about this wonderful new open cafe is the opportunity for family and friends to catch up outside of the clinical environment. This puts less strain on the patient while also allowing for the human connection we need during these times.”
Attribution to Jason Power, Interim Chief Executive Officer, SCDHB
ENDS