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2024 is providing The Doctors Apollo with some unique challenges.
We are very happy to share our ‘baby news' – Drs Andrew Lott, Farah Alqes and Debra Yeh are all expecting babies in the first half of this year. Consequently, they will all be having significant amounts of maternity/parental leave.
We have had one doctor leave us after their first year of training here to work further north and closer to their home.
We want to acknowledge that one of our senior doctors is moving overseas to live closer to her family in England. We are currently working on telehealth options with her, so watch this space.
We also have some changes in hours for other doctors who are undergoing additional training in subspecialties.
To cope with all these changes in clinical service hours we have been, and continue to, advertising and interviewing for both permanent and locum doctor support.
No doubt you have experienced throughout the news and social media, the increasing pressure on our health system in general and our primary care services in particular.
This winter will be particularly challenging. We do have some innovative approaches we believe will alleviate some of the burden but we acknowledge that this may appear to be a change in how we have normally conducted our service delivery.
From May we will be ensuring we keep a significant amount of ‘later in the day' appointments in each doctor's template for those patients who absolutely need to see a doctor on the day. These appointments will be triaged (sorted) via telephone in the morning by our senior lead nurses and sometimes by a senior doctor colleague. But please note that there may be times where this will not be possible. We will advise you on the best alternative options if this is the case.
Please be aware that our afterhours/urgent care colleagues at Shorecare remain our preferred support as we have trusted relationships built over decades. Their clinical communication back to our practice is prompt and the care there is superb.
We also have an online service House Call that our corporate owners – GreenCross – operate as an alternative telehealth service to our enrolled patients.
We know that this situation is not ideal, but it is a uniquely different year for us here at The Doctors Apollo.
As we navigate the upcoming winter and remainder of year please feedback to our Medical Centre Manager – Ms Christina Kang – if you require any further explanation or have any other questions, unique concerns, or ideas that may assist us.
Kia kaha
Lynne
Dr Lynne Coleman MNZM
Clinical Director
