The past few months have caused considerable anxiety in our communities. First, the bushfires and now coronavirus, which has now been classified as a pandemic. The media have not helped to contain anxiety. Contradictory and confusing information from too many sources has created a situation in which we have witnessed some bizarre behaviours; supermarkets emptied of toilet paper, tissues, nappies, sanitiser….
Well, it’s time to address this and consider coronavirus calmly and rationally. A problem facing general practice has been that we too, have had to make sense of conflicting advice. Guidelines have changed as information from around the globe has become available. It’s an evolving process, however, there are certain things that have become clear and we, at Wellness Medicine, will be implementing these sensible precautions and protocols.
The first will be a triaging set of questions by our reception staff when patients make appointments. We’re confident that patients will understand why they might be asked to wear a mask and be segregated into a different waiting area and consultation room. Our priority is to keep all patients and all staff members safe! Testing of patients at risk will be done according to recommended guidelines.
General advice can be sought at any time and during consultations. Patients may want to know whether they should stick to travel plans, whether they should join a cruise that has been booked and paid for, what sort of hygiene measures to adopt when out and about, when and if they should have a flu injection and so on. We welcome patients to come and discuss these sorts of issues with either Jo, our nurse, or one of the doctors, so that purposeful decisions can be made; to be prepared without resorting to panic!
Dr Lydia Senycia, on behalf of the doctors at Wellness Medicine
For More information about Corona virus (COVID-19) see Department of Health website here