We will be with you throughout this difficult time, and have created this COVID-19 Patient Resource Page to keep you up-to-date with the latest information and links to reliable sources of information which will help you understand how you can safely access medical care.
To ensure everyone’s safety and so that everyone remains at home as much as possible, we are changing how appointments can be made. We have decided that the safest way to do this is for your usual GP to call you about your health concerns prior to a face to face consultation being made with us.
Many of your concerns can be addressed in a phone call without the need for you to leave your home.
If you need to see your GP, please book a Telehealth appointment online, or call our receptionists on 4333 1222 – they will place you on your GP’s list for a phone call.
Our GP’s are doing the bulk of Telehealth calls in the mornings between 8am and 12noon. Unfortunately we can’t guarantee an exact time, but if you have a Telehealth appointment your GP will be calling you.
Please do not come into the practice unless you have an appointment.
If your GP requires you to come to the practice, they will make an appointment time for you.
Please remember that social distancing also means you should not be bringing extra family members or friends with you to your appointment unless absolutely necessary. If possible, have them wait in the car or outside until the appointment is over.
Do not arrive too early for your appointment as we are trying to limit the number of people in our waiting room. Please wait in your car, or in an open space before entering the clinic.
Tips on GP phone calls
Video consultations will be introduced soon – we are just ensuring we have the right platform for you to use that is safe and secure.
We will be using Zoom for our video consultations. If you would like to have a video consultation with your GP, please download Zoom using one of the links below.
To ensure the security of these consultations, your GP will call you first – they will then ask you to open your Zoom app and will give you the required passwords over the phone.
Your GP will send your script to your local pharmacy (where possible). Scripts cannot be picked up from our practices. Please wait for about 30 mins to 1 hr before going to your pharmacy to pick up your medication. If you are in a high risk group, or unable to attend your Pharmacy, see if they can deliver your medication.
The following links will give you up-to-date information about COVID-19
Older people (60+ years of age, or 50+ for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples) are more susceptible to getting sick with COVID-19 (coronavirus).
This fact sheet outlines the facts and measures that you, your family and your friends can take to protect older Australians.
Surgical masks vs P2/N95 masks – which masks protect against Coronavirus?
(Credit: iStock)
The simplified explanation is this:
If you are well, you do not need to wear a surgical mask.
If you have a cold or flu like symptoms and you have to go out for essential travel (e.g. to your GP or pharmacist), please wear a surgical mask to protect the people you come into contact with.
Gloves – should I wear them?
There are many people out and about wearing gloves. While gloves can make you feel safer, the reality is that it may be causing you more harm or just as much harm as bare hands because of ‘cross contamination’.
For example:
You decide to go to the supermarket (an legitimate reason to be out and about at the moment). You park your car, put on your gloves and go into the shops. As you are shopping you are touching items that other people will also have touched – your gloves are now contaminated. But you feel safe in the knowledge that you are protected because you are wearing your gloves.
Then your mobile phone rings or beeps with a message … you answer it with your gloved hands, or type in a reply and put it in your pocket and continue your shopping – without even giving it a second thought.
You reach for your wallet/purse and pay for your groceries, then return to your car. You open your boot with your gloved hand, put in your groceries and then get into your car. Then you remove your gloves. Your phone rings or beeps again – you take out your phone and answer it or send a text.
YOUR GLOVES WERE CONTAMINATED IN THE SUPERMARKET – you have now spread that contamination to your mobile phone (which you then put to your face later), your wallet, your car boot and your car door handle.
The gloves you put on with such good intentions have not helped you at all. You may have touched surfaces that you would normally avoid because you were wearing your gloves (like stair railings).
The better option would be to not touch anything and if you do, wash your hands. Remember NOT to touch your face at any time. Wipe down your groceries when you get home, rinse your fruit and vegetables, disinfect your car door handles, and your boot release, and don’t forget to wipe your mobile phone down!
02 4333 1222