The surgery will be closed from Monday 23rd December 2024 reopening Monday 13th January 2025.
This is only 10 days more than usual weekend and statutory breaks.
- These (and previous) breaks are to ensure staff can take some time off with family and represent far shorter delays for routine appointments than most practices have as a norm. Please ensure you do not run out of a regular medication during these times, but if you do, you should contact your usual HAWERA pharmacy [see Note 1], where an extension may be dispensed at the sole discretion of the pharmacist.
During these times normal "after hours arrangements" apply, namely emergencies should use the 111 system or attend the Hawera or NP Emergency Departments (ED) for emergencies and serious medical problems.- While ED Medical Officers either don't have General Practice vocational training and registration (so they shouldn't give Primary Care advice), or if they do have specific General Practice vocational training, they may still decline to provide GP advice as this is not the function of an ED. However, they will always be able to give urgent or emergency advice and/or care. Most importantly however, as the TDHB (now TWOT) has decided not to support our Rural Retention (including after-hours), you should not feel guilty if you do need to use the ED for urgent and/or important advice or treatment. The Medical Officers are obliged to see you if you wish them to, although there could be a significant wait so they may redirect you to the "South Taranaki Rural Health" practice which does receive considerable funding for seeing "ED Redirected" or even "Walk In" patients unable to access their usual GP, as well as huge levels of financial sustainability support denied other practices.
- For urgent or important non-emergency GP problems you should consider attending a walk-in A&M clinic in New Plymouth such as Medicross (ph 759 8915)
If you are not sure if you should attend the ED or travel to New Plymouth (including Statutory Holidays), you should feel free to contact 0800 Healthline (0800 611 116) and a trained nurse will advise you. Further advice is available 24/7 by ringing the surgery on (06) 2785189 and listening to the message. However, if someone is having a stroke or a possible heart attack ring 111 immediately for an ambulance. Alternatively, you could check out the new Ka Ora Telecare afterhours telehealth service for rural residents (only). Maternity patients needing urgent attention should contact their LMC or the Maternity Unit - phone (06) 2789911.
Note 1: "Usual Pharmacy"
Arrangements with your "Usual Pharmacy" only apply to South Taranaki based pharmacies where I have made arrangements and are at the sole discretion of the pharmacist. It will be the pharmacist's decision if a medication is part of your "regular medication" and how much of an extension is given and is unlikely to include controlled drugs such as Ritalin or morphine.
If the pharmacist is not 100% comfortable he/she may refuse or even liase with me by phone but there will be no tolerance of any form of coercion or psychological manipulation (like pleading or implying a poor health outcome).
If the pharmacist requires a new prescription before dispensing a medication, you will need to obtain this from an A&M or Telehealth service described above and even then controlled drugs may not be available. If your "Usual Pharmacy" is outside Hawera and your medication is essential, you will also need to obtain a new prescription from an A&M or Telehealth service.
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