Te Awamutu Medical Centre

Matariki 2024 is coming up this Friday! We will be closed for the Matariki celebrations, but if you need to access a GP or nurse over the weekend, we recommend the following:
Healthline 0800 611 116 - for free, comprehensive health advice
Anglesea Clinic (Hamilton) 07 858 0800 - our after hours accident and medical provider
Practice Plus - our partners, providing virtual GP appointments after hours. See details attached

We wish you and your whanau a very happy Matariki.

We're very happy to be supporting the PMGT and the important messages they promote. Don't text and drive!

55% of drivers admitted to being distracted while driving.

Additionally, 21% confessed to driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol new research by AMI Insurer reveals.

Mobile phones, in particular, emerge as a significant culprit, with an overwhelming 68% of respondents considering mobile phones to be the biggest distraction while driving.

Plan ahead before you hit the road - “Set up your navigation system, choose your music playlist, and set your temperature controls before you leave, or have your front-seat passenger do this for you,” says Mr Tippet from AMI.

For more Road Safety resources, visit https://pmgt.org.nz/safer-communities/ -safety

Thank you to Te Awamutu Medical Centre and PD Automotive for sponsoring our organisation.

Our latest patient newsletter (March edition) is available for pick up at our reception, or you can read it at our website,https://www.tamc.co.nz/assets/Newsletter.pdf

It has useful information and latest news, as well as tips for looking after your health. Our plan is to keep you updated with latest news and happenings regularly throughout the year. The next edition of the newsletter will be available in June.

www.tamc.co.nz

Just advising that we will be closed on the 25th April for ANZAC, and will reopen on the 26th.

Easter weekend is coming up - we are closed this Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Reopening Tuesday morning at 8am.

Make sure to get your prescriptions and other things sorted well in advance, if you need them for the long weekend.

The weather is turning a bit cooler! Reminding us that it is almost time for flu shots. We will start giving influenza vaccinations on Tuesday 2nd April, after the Easter break. There is also a new covid booster, which you can get at the same time as your flu shot if you choose.

If you are 65+ yrs old, pregnant, or have conditions that put you at risk of serious illness from flu, then the flu vaccination is fully funded (free) for you. For everyone else the flu shot is $35.

Covid boosters are fully funded and so are available for everyone at no charge.

You can contact us now 07 8720300 to book a time to get your winter vaccinations, or drop in from 2 April when it is convenient for you (If you are dropping in with no appointment, allow for a short wait).

For improved convenience, our clinic now has a secure pay-by-link option, which allows you to click a link and pay with your debit or credit card.

Patients may receive a text or email from us with a link to an online payment portal. This is legitimate and is a fully secure payment service.

If you do not have a credit or debit card, you can continue to pay in person at our reception, or via internet banking.

Please speak with our reception team if you have any queries regarding paying for your care.

Thanks from the TAMC Team

To Our Valued Patients

Yesterday we started to advise our patients that we are implementing a “one problem per consult” policy (see below). We have received a number of messages overnight about this. We would like to thank those people who have contacted us directly; we very much appreciate your feedback and the chance to have conversations, and we wish to clarify a few things for everyone.

Our policy is flexible, in that it allows the clinician to judge how much can be dealt with in one consultation. One big issue or several smaller issues may well be able to be dealt with in one consult. However, if your clinician feels they cannot safely deal with all of your issues in the time available, they will ask you to book a later consult to address any remaining issues. Please do not be offended if this happens.

Why are we doing this?

In short, for clinical safety. Unfortunately, a GP’s time is a scarce resource these days. We allocate that time in 15 minute blocks, to be able to deliver our care to as many patients as possible. In each 15 minute block, a GP has to talk with you, analyse and measure your symptoms, diagnose your issue, develop a treatment plan, and then also follow up with various paperwork, prescriptions, requests for tests, and referrals to specialists.

This is often more than 15 minutes worth of work, even for a single issue. When a GP has to deal with multiple issues in the same time slot, there is a heightened clinical risk that things could get delayed or missed. Our aim is to provide quality health care to you, and this is why our GPs need to limit the issues they deal with in each consult.

What you can do to help..

• We want to reassure all of our patients that you can bring up multiple problems in your consult. But please prioritise your issues and tell the GP at the start of your appointment which ones are most important to you. This will help you both deal with the big things first.

• If you have a large list of things for the GP, you can book a double appointment in advance. This will incur double fees but will give more time to get all your things sorted in one visit.

• Please be prepared to book another appointment in future to deal with unaddressed issues, if the GP asks you to.

We understand that current wait times for appointments are frustrating. As well as being short of clinical staff, we are now dealing with more complex patient health issues than we have in the past. This means that many patients need to see the doctor more frequently, and so our wait times have become longer.

We will not turn away anyone in distress, or ignore any serious medical concerns. Our walk-in casualty clinic is available Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm for anyone with urgent medical needs, with no appointment required.

We also understand that times are tough for many financially, and that the cost of health care can be a barrier. We do offer patients options to set up automatic payments, to put credit onto their accounts for future visits, or to pay off visits if they are unable to pay the full consult cost at the time of the appointment. Our receptionists are happy to assist you with this.

Our commitment has always been to provide our patients with safe and effective clinical care, and patient health is at the forefront of everything we do. Our hope is that this policy will help us to continue to do this in years to come.

We appreciate your understanding, and we are always available to answer any questions you may have.

Your TAMC team

Just a quick reminder that we are closed for the Waitangi Day holiday tomorrow. Our after-hours partners Practice Plus are available for remote consultations by phone or video - go to their website to access their service (fees apply). We reopen at 8am on Wednesday morning.

The weekend is almost here! Wishing everybody a good one..

Note that we will be closed on Tuesday 6th Feb, for the Waitangi Day holiday.

Have a fantastic long weekend, everyone - stay safe and enjoy. Remember that we are closed on Saturdays at the moment, and we will be closed on Monday for the Auckland Anniversary holiday. Back open again on Tuesday morning.

We will be closed next Monday 29 January, for the Auckland Anniversary holiday. Make sure that you have your repeat prescriptions ordered well in advance of the long weekend!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We hope that you have a sun-water-and-road safe, fun festive season with friends and whanau. We are closed from 23 to 26 December, and also closed from 30 December to 2 January. Open for normal 8am-6pm on all other weekdays. Currently closed on Saturday mornings.
Take care out there!

Just a reminder that we are now closed on Saturday mornings. Sorry for any inconvenience - we will be revisiting our opening hours when staffing levels allow.

We wish everyone a happy and safe weekend.

We advise that due to our current shortage of clinical staff we have had to make the decision to close on Saturday mornings for a while. This Saturday18/11/23 will be our last open Saturday until further notice.

We apologise for any inconvenience. We plan to reopen on Saturdays when the situation improves.

For contact details for our after hours partners, ph 07 8720300 or visit www.tamc.co.nz

If you have an emergency, do not hesitate to call 111.

Where possible we will be providing additional appointments between 5-6pm on weekdays for our working patients. Please contact reception to book.

Home We deliver a full range of healthcare services. Register with one of our GPs to get personalised, continuous care. You’ll have a doctor who knows you and your family’s medical history, and who you can feel confident with.

We wish everybody a happy safe and healthy long weekend and Labour Day holiday. We are open as usual tomorrow morning (Saturday), and are closed on Monday. Normal hours resume on Tuesday 24th.

There's a long weekend coming up - remember that we will be closed on Labour Day, Monday 23 October. Remember to order what you need for the long weekend well in advance.

Reminding all of our patients that our clinic will be closed on Monday 16th October from 8am until 1pm, for a major IT upgrade. We expect services to resume at 1pm.

Thank you for your patience in the coming week or two as our staff get used to the new system.

Good morning, unfortunately due to sickness we are short of staff today and our Casualty drop-in service will be restricted. Please expect longer waiting times than usual, and we encourage you to put off your visit until later if at all possible.

As always, medically urgent matters will be given priority, so please do not expect to be seen in order of arrival.

If you have an emergency, do not hesitate to call 111.

For A&E services you can contact Anglesea Clinic in Hamilton, or for a virtual GP appointment from your own computer, you can contact our after hours partners www.practiceplus.nz

Telehealth & Virtual GP Appointments New Zealand | Practice Plus Same day virtual after-hours GP appointments to suit you and your whānau. We help connect you with trusted medical care quickly, as an after-hours extension to your regular medical centre team and GP.

is the 2023 Campaign from the Sepsis Trust NZ. It aims to fundraise $50,000 by the end of 2023 to support their work with sepsis survivors, and raise awareness about sepsis around Aotearoa New Zealand in the lead up to World Sepsis Day (13th September).
A number of staff from Te Awamutu Medical Centre are all geared up to kick off on Friday 1st September, and we would love your support as we get our step on!

Te Awamutu Medical Centre - Stepforsepsis I'm stepping for sepsis : Make a donation today to support survivors

Unfortunately due to sickness we have a reduced staff this week. Our casualty drop in service will have limited capacity today and tomorrow, and we anticipate that waiting times will be longer than usual. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Please note that patients with urgent medical matters will get priority. If your matter is not urgent, we encourage you to make a future appointment with a GP instead of coming to casualty and waiting.

As always, phone an ambulance 111 if you have an emergency.

Hi everyone - just letting you know that we will be closed for the Matariki celebration this Friday. We hope that you have a lovely day. We will be open again on Saturday morning as usual.

Shoplifting is at an all-time high in Wellington, with nearly 4x the amount of retail theft compared to a decade ago.

The latest police data shows a 282.692% increase in retail thefts in the CBD – almost quadrupling from mid-2014.

Implement these effective strategies to prevent and deter crime against your business:

➡️ Invest in comprehensive employee training programs that emphasize the identification and prevention of retail crime. The NZ Police reports that businesses that provide regular training to their employees experience a 70% decrease in internal theft incidents.

➡️ Install surveillance cameras. According to the NZ Security Association, businesses that have installed surveillance cameras observe a 30% decline in instances of shoplifting and theft.

➡️ Maintain proper lighting both inside and outside your retail premises. The NZ Crime Prevention Unit revealed that businesses with well-lit exteriors experienced a 50% decrease in attempted theft and shoplifting incidents.

Find more on preventing retail crime on our website here https://pmgt.org.nz/safer-communities/ -in-the-workplace

Thank you to Te Awamutu Medical Centre and Ropata Health for sponsoring our organisation.

Reminding all our patients to please order your repeat prescriptions 2-3 days in advance of when you need them. We are very busy at the moment and it takes this amount of time to process your requests.

You can request same-day service if your need is urgent and your request is received early in the day, but that does incur an extra fee (total $30).

Most repeat scripts can be sent directly to the pharmacy of your choice (no need to pick up a paper slip), as long as you tell us clearly in your request, which pharmacy you want to pick up your medicines from.

It's the King's Birthday holiday on next Monday 5 June - we will be closed for the day. Please check that you have sufficient meds and medical supplies for the long weekend. We will be open again on Tuesday morning.

Due to covid and other illnesses, we are operating with a reduced team today. There will be long wait times in our Casualty unit, so we recommend putting off your visit if your matter is not urgent. We are sorry for the delays and any inconvenience.

Our Casualty unit is extremely busy today. If your matter is not urgent we recommend that you make an appointment for later or delay your visit until a later time.

Patients will be seen in order of medical urgency, not in the order of arrival.

Please bear with us - our staff are doing the best they can to see as many patients as possible.

If you have an emergency, please do not hesitate to call an ambulance.