Regardless of vaccination status, those with cold, flu or Covid-19 symptoms will be triaged by staff wearing PPE gear before being allowed entry to most GP clinics. Photo / NZME
Regardless of vaccination status, those with cold, flu or Covid-19 symptoms will be triaged by staff wearing PPE gear before being allowed entry to most GP clinics. Photo / NZME
Hawke's Bay GPs say patients not vaccinated against Covid-19 will still be able to access healthcare services, but it's set to look a little different.
More widespread use of phone consultations is coming and while there's a risk of that leading to missed information, the process is getting better andhas potential benefits, some say.
Maraenui Medical managing partner Dr Hannes Sohnge said patients who had not received both Covid-19 vaccinations were now being directed to a phone consultation first.
"We have been advised by the Royal NZ College of GPs that we need to be sure to add [a step to protect them] to be seeing them in person."
Those deemed necessary for in-person consultations with no Covid-19 symptoms can be seen in the consulting room "as per usual".
"If they have Covid-like symptoms, we dress up in PPE, get them in through the back door and see them in a designated room."
Those who were fully vaccinated could choose whether they wanted a consultation in person or by phone, though they were also screened for respiratory symptoms by reception staff.
While there was always a risk of missing information from an unvaccinated patient by relying on phone consultations, Sohnge said the centre took appropriate precautions like arranging blood tests and x-rays.
"If there is uncertainty about a diagnosis, especially if it is potentially serious, we would see them."
The main issue was patients not answering their phones when they ring, he said.
"Normally we get hold of them after a few attempts, but it can waste time."
Neville Saunders, medical centre manager of The Doctors in Hastings, Gascoigne and Waipawa, said it didn't matter if patients were vaccinated or not.
"We can't turn people away on that basis.
"We need to provide their healthcare. It's just the right thing to do.
"We really just treat our patients according to the symptoms they present to us."
Neville Saunders, medical centre manager of The Doctors in Hastings, Gascoigne and Waipawa, said it didn't matter if patients were vaccinated or not, they could still be seen. Photo / NZME
Those with flu, cold or Covid-like symptoms were triaged - either over the phone or in the carpark by staff wearing PPE gear for walk-in patients - and then sent to "hot rooms".
Triage calls were not charged, though if it turned into a phone consult they would be advised.
"If people need to be seen, then we will see them."
He also acknowledged there was a risk of information being missed over the phone but said as the health sector became more used to tele-consults, that process had improved and the risk had been "minimised".
"In the current environment, like it was during lockdown, there is a benefit to doing phone consults."
As an example, it could help those with young children avoid the need to come in person, he said.
A range of measures had been put in place at Totara Health's clinics in Flaxmere and Hastings to reduce Covid-19 transmission risk, including separating the clinic into three areas. Photo / NZME
Shane Gorst, of Totara Health which includes a clinic in Flaxmere where vaccination rates are lagging, said they had essentially divided the clinic into three to cater to vaccinated, unvaccinated and symptomatic people.
"We will be seeing unvaccinated people in the clinic but not in the same clinic.
"We will still care for the unvaccinated we just need to look after them in a different part of the building."
He expected the use of consults would "ramp up" when Covid-19 was more widespread in the community, but in the meantime, there were other measures in places to protect those at the clinic, including an intercom system at the entrance.
"The reality is this [Covid-19] is going to be with us for a long time.
"We're going to need to have a way to safely people who are aren't vaccinated, otherwise there's a real risk the quality of their care will not be what it needs to be."
The Ministry of Health says getting vaccinated is still the best way for people to keep safe from Covid-19. Photo / NZME
Advice from Ministry of Health
MOH chief medical officer Andrew Connolly said denying access to healthcare based solely on vaccination status was "clinically unacceptable".
"The vaccination status of patients is not the key focus for GPs – it is managing the potential risk that any patient could have Covid-19."
For healthcare workers, the risk of seeing a patient with asymptomatic infection is the more important issue, rather than the vaccination status of the patient, he said.
He said the ministry was currently working on guidance for GPs on managing patients under the Covid-19 Protection Framework, though this had yet to be finalised.
"The Ministry of Health strongly encourages every eligible person in Aotearoa to get vaccinated. It is the best way to keep ourselves, our whānau and our communities safe."
