Taupō GPs encouraging people to keep with health care needs.
Taupō GP Dr Bronwen Thomas says Taupō GPs are open and are encouraging people to keep up with all their normal health care needs.
“If patients have a clinical problem or need a prescription they should still ring up their GP as they normally would and we will help them find the right way to resolve it.
Dr Thomas says GPs are managing both routine and urgent care. The full GP service is operational even though much if it is happening in a virtual space.
"As far as acute medical problems go, we definitely want patients to contact us as promptly as normal. So, if patients have an injury, a worrying symptom for example, a pain, a lump, a change with their bowels or their breathing we want to know. We will still manage the problem, send them for any tests they need and refer them on to the hospital specialists when required.
“It may all look a bit different and some routine things may be postponed if safe to do so, but, we are still here doing our job as always,” she says.
Bronwen says that early on at the start of the lockdown, GPS did have to change some pre-booked face to face appointments to phone calls, to ensure not too many people came to the practice. This was done to keep staff and patients safe. Some tests and reviews were postponed where it was safe to do so.
“We are running phone, video and face to face (with doctor or nurse approval) consultations for both urgent and routine care. We will help patients with the safest and easiest option for their individual problem.”
Dr Thomas says GP practices have been working hard to ensure practices have measures in place to ensure the safety of staff and patients from any COVID-19 exposure.
She says the local Community Based Assessment Centre (CBAC) also provides a referral option to GPs for patients with possible COVID-19 i.e. fever or respiratory symptoms; runny nose, sore throat or cough, who need a clinical assessment and swabs.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Best way to use leftovers?
I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.
What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62.4% Summer
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36.2% Winter
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1.4% Other - I'll share below
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