With the recent increase of COVID-19 cases in Sydney, a 14 day lockdown has been announced by the NSW premier.
Hunters Hill Medical Practice as an essential service will remain open throughout the 14 day lockdown. We have a COVID-19 safety plan, will be enforcing strict social distancing and the wearing of masks. Our staff will redouble their efforts at patient screening and clinic cleaning.
We remain open for both in-person and telehealth consults. While telehealth consults can be useful and avoid unnecessary travel and exposure, we recognise the need to remain open for patients and conditions that need to be assessed in person. Our ability to remain open depends on cooperation between staff and patients.
Drs and Nurses at HHMP will see patients in-person as long as it is safe for all. As such patients with respiratory symptoms will be seen in their cars or in the isolation room. If you have respiratory symptoms, please do not enter the practice, rather remain in your car and call us when you arrive.
Vaccination remains an important way to protect yourself and the community against COVID-19 and Flu. For more information, please visit our vaccine clinic website.
As a practice taking steps to reduce the risk for patients and staff is just part of what we do and documented in our COVID-Safety plan. Such steps include:
In light of recent events, we are asking all patients and staff to be especially vigilant and take appropriate actions to decrease risk. Especially over the next few weeks, we need the assistance of all patients and visitors to wear masks. We would appreciate if you were to bring your own mask with you and wear it before entering the practice. If you do not have a mask, please ask at reception and a disposable mask will be given to you. We all need to be involved in reducing the risk of community transmission.
We thank you all for your cooperation and encourage you to contact us if you have any questions.
The next 2 weeks are especially important. If there has been any local COVID-19 transmission, we will see this play out over that period. We can also minimise local COVID-19 transmission during this period by doing the right thing. As a result, it is important to be especially vigilant for symptoms and get tested ASAP. There are many local testing options, including government COVID-19 clinics, local hospitals, private pathology providers and at HHMP. It is also very important to keep in mind and do the things listed above to minimise the risk.
NSW health has an excellent COVID-19 website with all the information in one place and links to further information. Please use this and other reputable government websites to get your information rather than news media or just random blogs (excluding this one! ;-)). The links below are for the most useful sections for patients:
