As we come into winter, we're already seeing a rise in respiratory illnesses including COVID-19, the flu, and the common cold. Whooping cough has also recently been on the rise in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.
We ask that you please be aware of the following:
We are very short on appointments for certain doctors - if you have a preference for seeing your regular GP rather than one of our other doctors, then you may need to wait 3 weeks or longer for your appointment. Dr Brenda Gibson in particular remains very booked up. However, we generally have other doctors plus our Nurse Practitioner Intern, Jasper, available either on the day or within a day or two.
Like many health providers, we continue to be regularly short-staffed due to staff illness and other factors. Please bear with us, and we appreciate your understanding if this ever requires us to make changes to your appointment/s.
We have staff going on leave and taking well-deserved breaks over the next months. Dr Martin Harris returns from leave this week, while Dr Julian Foster goes on leave next week until 9 July. Dr Brenda Gibson is then taking leave 8-19 July. One of our practice nurses, Sian, is also currently on leave for the next 3 months.
We continue to maintain the precautions we have had in place (outlined below) throughout the COVID-19 pandemic; please continue to always tell us about any respiratory illness symptoms before you come in for your appointment/s.
Some of our clinicians are unable to see patients with any respiratory illness symptoms. We appreciate your understanding about this, and we will always do our best to ensure you are able to be seen by a different clinician if you need to be assessed in person.
Can't get an appointment with us?
If it's something that you don't need to be seen in-person for, consider booking a virtual appointment with a NZ-based doctor through Practice Plus.
Or if it's non-urgent, please consider booking with one of our GPs or our Nurse Practitioner Intern when the next suitable appointment time is available.
Emergency Departments and After-Hours clinics are facing short-staffing and overwhelming numbers of patients across the motu, causing extremely long wait-times, and this will worsen as winter progresses. Please only visit ED or an After-Hours clinic if your situation is an emergency or urgent.
Think you can manage just fine at home but would like a little advice or support, or unsure if you need to see a doctor?
Take a look at our Self-Help and After Hours pages for self-help resources and free call-lines. Alternatively, you can leave a message on our nurse line to request that a nurse calls you back, but please be aware there is a fee for this service.
Our precautions for respiratory illness symptoms
If you have any respiratory illness symptoms and you would like a GP appointment, you have two options:
1) Book a phone or video consultation with a GP, or
2) If you think you need to be assessed in person, you will need to be triaged over the phone by one of our nurses first. If an in-person appointment is then booked for you, upon arrival you will be asked to wait either in our hallway or in our "isolation" room.
Every patient is asked at the door about respiratory illness symptoms prior to being let into the practice. If you attend your appointment with symptoms without notifying us first, your doctor or nurse may not be able to see you.
Respiratory illness symptoms include:
Cough
Runny nose
Stuffy nose
Sneezing
Fever
Chills
Sore throat
Muscle/body aches
Wheezing
Loss of taste or smell
Diarrhea
Vomiting
