As we are currently at Alert level 2 and we know the disease can spread very quickly so we’d like to remind everyone to follow the guidelines below:

• Use the NZ COVID Tracer app and record your visits everywhere you go.
• Wash your hands – use hand sanitiser
• Practise social distancing when out in public.
• Sneeze and cough into your elbow
• Stay at home if you feel unwell and call Kaikōura Health if you have flu/COVID like symptoms. 
• Wear a mask – these must be worn correctly, more information at the website https://covid19.govt.nz/health-and-wellbeing/protect-yourself-and-others/wear-a-face-covering/

Do you need to see a doctor? 

• Please ring us, we’re still here for you. 
• Please do not come into the Health Centre if you are unwell without phoning ahead 03 319 3501.
• You will be asked a series of screening questions when you book your appointment and when you come into the facility. This is to manage the risk of infection.
• If the waiting room is at capacity you may be asked to wait in your car until we phone you to come in.
• If you are coming into the clinic (remember to call us first before you come in) please bring a mask to wear. Staff are also required to wear masks if they are within 2 metres of you.
• Social distancing will be observed in the waiting room and all magazines have been removed. Feel free to bring a book, magazine or make use of the free wifi available while you wait.
• Please remember to sanitise your hands when you come into Kaikōura Health and again when you leave. 

What should I do if I have COVID-19 symptoms?

• If you are unwell with cold, flu or COVID- like symptoms you should stay home and call us on 03 3193501.  Please call first, do not come in. The team will arrange for you to be assessed by one of our clinical team and if necessary, have a COVID swab.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Visiting inpatients or residents of Kaikōura Health:

• If you are feeling unwell, please do not visit our inpatients or residents. We understand that you want to support friends and family receiving care, but it is important that our vulnerable community members are protected from this disease. 

Aged Residential Care has restricted access at level 2 

• Only 2 designated visitors may visit our residents in Aged Residential Care. Please do not be offended if you are turned away because you are not one of the designated visitors, these steps are necessary to ensure we keep our residents safe and well. If you are designated visitor please come to the side entrance on the main deck to enter our Aged Residential Care wing.  Staff will let you in once they have completed the screening required.
• Please remember to sanitise your hands when you come into Kaikōura Health and again when you leave.
• Please bring a mask to wear while you are visiting.

Acute Inpatient Unit has restricted access at Level 2

• The patients in the acute wing can have one visitor at a time and that visitor must be screened before being allowed access.
• The patient can have 2 designated visitors who can visit for up to 30 minutes.

What if levels change?
Kaikōura District Council, Neighbourhood Support/GetsReady and Kaikōura Health Te Hā o Te Ora have systems in place with Te Hā o Mātauranga, Te Whare Putea, Maori Wardens, St Johns, Red Cross and other local service groups to ensure that we are well prepared and ready to respond if the COVID Levels change.

On 30th November 2020 Kaikoura Healthcare is changing to a new patient Management System (the computer system that we collect and store your health information on) called Indici.

In the week before we move to Indici the team will be having training in the use of the new system.

In the week beginning 30th November when the system goes “live” we have reduced the number of appointments so that staff can take the time to learn the new system. Things may be a little slower as our team learns the new system. We thank you, our patients, for your understanding and patience during this time.

One of the great things for you about this new system is a new patient portal called My Indici™

My Indici ™ is a secure website which allows you access to your personal health information from any internet device at anytime, anywhere in the world. The website receives your personal health information, directly from your medical centre’s patient management system.

For Kaikoura Healthcare, it is also a way to have secure electronic communication with you. This service is available free for patients over the age of 18. Patients under 18 may be eligible subject to clinical approval.

TEST RESULTS: Your “Lab Results” will be visible after you have logged on with your personal password, as well as any comment by your doctor. Please read your doctors comments and take any action recommended. If there are serious abnormalities, we will endeavour to contact you through other channels, including phone or txt or letter letter.

APPOINTMENT BOOKINGS My Indici ™ will allow you to book a routine appointment with your own doctor. Nurse appointments are not able to be booked on My Indici ™ due to them needing to be booked into specific clinics. The exception is clinics such as flu vaccine clinics during the flu season or smear clinics, where these are available to be booked on the portal.

REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS Requests for repeat prescriptions can be made via My Indici ™. Repeat prescriptions may take up to two/three working days to be produced – fees apply. If you require a prescription more urgently, you should contact the practice by phone to arrange an urgent prescription.

An additional fee applies for urgent prescriptions.

We thank you for your patience as we adjust to and learn the new system.

COVID-19 is still with us, battering countries around the world while we enjoy the freedom of Level 1 restrictions. But we all need to play a part in keeping our communities safe so we can spend time with family and friends over the much-anticipated summer break.

The disease can spread very quickly so it is essential that we all use the NZ COVID Tracer app, stay at home if you feel unwell and call Kaikōura Health if you have flu/COVID like symptoms. Please call before coming in so that the team can swab you in a COVID clinic.

If you are feeling unwell, please do not come and visit our inpatients or residents. We understand that you want to support friends and family receiving care, but it is important that our vulnerable community members are protected from this disease.

If you’re well and are visiting our Aged Residential Care facility, please enter via the deck gate and push the doorbell so staff can let you in and complete our safety checks. You will be asked to sanitise your hands when you come into Kaikōura Health and again when you leave.

Remember to keep using your Tracer app whether you are here visiting or coming to the clinic for an appointment or are out and about in the community, stay at home if you feel unwell and phone Kaikōura Health if you develop cold or flu like symptoms.

Wash hands frequently or use hand sanitiser and don’t forget to use a mask.

Vaccinations continue for the current eligible group as the supply of vaccine allows. The eligible group is made up of pregnant women, 65 years of age and older, healthcare workers and patients with chronic conditions, including children.

As supply of vaccine arrives, our teams schedule further clinics for this group. We have established systems in place for communicating with our eligible patients regarding these clinics. YOU WILL BE PHONED BY US WITH AN APPOINTMENT TIME. We are running the flu clinics as drive through clinics and we need to call you to talk you through what you have to do. We ask for your patience at this time.

There is a limited supply of vaccine and we are completing daily orders as per the Ministry of Health distribution guidelines.

Subject to supply and the current demand for vaccinations, clinics will be planned for other people who want a flu vaccination, as supply becomes available. We anticipate these will commence around late-April. We advise people to wait until we let you know that we can vaccinate those who are not eligilbe at present. As soon as we have been advised that we can do this we will let you know on Facebook, Kaikoura Star and by a notice at the Supermarket on their noticeboard

By Kaikōura Health Services Manager Angela Blunt

The Health Facility is still open and operating – we are just asking that instead of coming in, you phone first so we can make a telephone appointment for you.  If you do need to be seen you will still be seen.  Urgent care is still available.

Information about notifications of Positives cases

• Positive cases are confirmed by the Ministry of Health every day – you can check on health.govt.nz
• The Ministry of Health releases basic information about positive “cases” such as their age range, gender and the location they are based in. People are entitled to privacy about their health. However you may be contacted about a positive case during ‘contact tracing’
• If a test result comes back positive the Ministry of Health and district health boards track down people who may have been exposed to the virus through a process called contact tracing and provide health advice
• If our public health teams believe there may be some potential contacts they haven’t been able to reach, the information about the locations the person who tested positive may have been will be released 
• If you think you might be a close or casual contact, it doesn’t mean you have COVID-19. You will be contacted by public health staff or you can call Healthline on 0800 358 5453. They will give you advice on what you need to do
• Please remember as we all go through these exceptional circumstances – stay at home, wash your hands, and be kind to each other

Visitors to our rest home and inpatient services

There are NO visitors allowed during this lockdown period.  We will maintain contact with the families of our residents and inpatients. We understand how difficult it is for them not to be able to visit.  Arrangements are being made to enable virtual visits either by phone or videolink.

Flu clinics

The flu vaccine will soon be available for our most at risk to make sure that they get the best protection possible, as early as possible.   We will be contacting our priority groups to arrange for their vaccination early next week. Please DO NOT call us at this time we will be calling you in order of the priority groups set by the Ministry of Health.   The flu vaccine does not protect you against COVID-19 but making sure people most at risk of needing hospital care with the flu will help to manage the demand on our hospitals this winter. Keep your eye on the newspaper, our website and our Facebook page and the Kaikoura District Councils pages for information and dates for flu clinics.

Message from our Mental Health and Wellbeing team

• Remember at this time that it is important to maintain a regular routine as much as possible, take exercise, interact with others on the phone, via Skype, spend at least 2 hours a day in natural light.  
• Don’t forget to change the script, reframe your perception if you are feeling negative about the situation and look for positives and see this as an opportunity to spend more time together as a family, to get things done around the house or whatever makes you feel good.
• Maintain a good sleep routine, normal bedtimes and avoid that blue light from those screens for at least an hour prior to going to bed. 

Look after yourselves, your families and keep an eye on your neighbours.  Kia kaha 

By Kaikōura Health Services Manager Angela Blunt

Planning for COVID-19 (also known as coronavirus) in Kaikōura has been happening for some time – before we had any cases in New Zealand. The team at Kaikōura Health Te Hā O Te Ora formed a working group last month to make sure our local processes meet the recommendations of the Ministry of Health and Canterbury DHB and we are working hard to ensure that we keep the community as safe as possible.  

You have an important role to help us keep everyone well, too. We need your help to ensure that NO potentially infectious people come into the health facility without calling first. 

If someone has been overseas in the last 14 days, have a cough, fever, sore throat or flu-like symptoms or have been in contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19 or with similar symptoms they should call Healthline’s free COVID -19 line on 0800 358 5453. Please spread the word to your friends and family about this process.

If Healthline advise you to contact your GP then please phone us on 03 319 3501 and let us know that you have these symptoms. We can’t say it enough times – please do not come into the facility without phoning ahead.

As part of our own safety measures all patients who phone for an appointment are now being asked a series of questions to ensure that we can triage you appropriately.  Patients who meet our triage criteria will be called or seen in a specially set-up room. 

If you do come into the facility with these symptoms you will be asked to return to your vehicle until a nurse or doctor can see you to assess you.  Please do not be offended by this, we are trying to minimise the chances of the virus spreading.

Please ensure that you use the hand sanitiser at the front door on entering the building and again when you leave.

As a precaution we have removed all magazines and toys from the waiting room but please feel free to bring your own books to read while you are waiting.  

Over the next few days we will be adjusting reception and the glass on their windows will be down with a small gap to enable them to talk with you.  This is to provide our staff protection to ensure they are able to continue to work.

Visitors to our rest home and inpatient services

We ask that if you have been overseas in the last 14 days, have a cough, sore throat, fever or flu like symptoms or have been in contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19 or with similar symptoms that you do not come and visit our residents or our inpatients in the Acute wing. These are some of our most vulnerable people.  

Flu clinics

The flu vaccine will soon be available, much earlier than normal, for our most at risk to make sure that they get the best protection possible, as early as possible. These groups are: people aged 65 and over, people who are pregnant, people with certain chronic conditions, and young children with a history of severe respiratory illness. The flu vaccine does not protect you against COVID-19 but making sure people most at risk of needing hospital care with the flu will help to manage the demand on our hospitals this winter. The vaccine will be available for the wider community from 13 April. To help meet likely demand, 40,000 extra vaccines have been ordered for the country. Keep your eye on the newspaper, our website and our Facebook page and the Kaikoura District Council pages for information and dates for flu clinics.