As of midnight the 25th of March 2020 New Zealand will increase the COVID 19 threat to level 4. This means the immediate cessation of all non-acute surgical services and face-to-face consultations in an effort to limit transmission of the virus.
ACC and some private medical insurers (i.e. Southern Cross and NIB) have confirmed that they are prepared to support Telehealth. This means that Mr Durrant will still be able to conduct appointments via phone and/or videoconferencing (e.g. Skype, Facetime). Our office hours remain the same (i.e. 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Monday to Friday) and we are still taking bookings for new patient and follow up appointments.
We realise this is not ideal, but it does allow us to make some progress with managing your condition, address any concerns you may have, and formulate a plan going forward.
A number of the radiology providers (e.g. ARG, Mercy Radiology, SRG, TRG) will remain open throughout, so Adam can still arrange referrals for imaging and procedures (e.g. MRI scans).
In real terms this means that Adam will phone you at or close to the time of your booked appointment, unless advised otherwise. He may be calling from a blocked mobile number, so we would be grateful if you could answer blocked calls during this period. He will make a number of attempts to call you, however if there are multiple missed calls then we will need to reschedule your call for another time. Any paperwork that comes out of this consultation (e.g. medical certificates) will subsequently be emailed to you.
We appreciate your understanding during this period as we work hard to meet the needs of all our patients in the coming weeks.
Kind regards,
Hilary Durrant
Practice Manager
