Winter illnesses kept hospitals busy this year. Photo / File
Winter illnesses kept hospitals busy this year. Photo / File
Rotorua health care services were kept busy with an increased number of people struck by seasonal illness this winter.
Winter illness-related visits to Rotorua Hospital's emergency department doubled this June compared with last year and people visited their GP at three times the national rate.
This June, 266 people visitedthe Rotorua Hospital emergency department with winter illness symptoms, including flu, measles and whooping cough, according to data released to Rotorua Daily Post under the Official Information Act.
In the Lakes District Health Board area, the peak number of people to visit their GP for influenza-like illnesses in the winter season hit 161 per 100,000 for the two weeks ending July 7, according to Ministry of Health data.
The national rate was 53.8 people per 100,000 during the same period.
Lakes DHB chief executive Nick Saville-Wood said volume was not always the most accurate way to measure workload because a numerically "quiet" day might be stressful due to complex and challenging cases.
Lakes District Health Board chief executive Nick Saville-Wood. Photo / File
DHB clinical director emergency and medical management Dr Peter Freeman said the number of people who turned up to the emergency department with seasonal illnesses did not surprise him.
Going forward, Freeman urged people to book GP appointments promptly because doctors got busy during winter, keep the emergency department for emergencies only and to get young people vaccinated.
"The message should be 'vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate'," he said.
Toi Te Ora medical officer of health Phil Shoemack said health authorities had received "great support" from the community in the efforts to prevent the spread of measles, such as people exposed to the disease complying with requests to stay at home.
Toi Te Ora medical officer of health Phil Shoemack. Photo / File
"It's a nuisance for people to be asked to go into isolation, just because they happened to be in the same waiting room as someone with measles.
"It is pleasing that people understood the significance."
He said although the country was over the most recent peak of cases, there was still the risk of further infections and he urged people to get vaccinated and call their local GP if they suspected someone had measles.
Emergency department visits - by the numbers Visits to the emergency department during June, July and August
