Bay of Plenty GPs are banding together to help each other through winter illnesses.

Significant winter illness and unplanned staff absences, coupled with the lingering impact from Covid-19 and continued management of patient population's broader health needs, has seen General Practices go to extra lengths this year to get through the harsh winter months; collaborating, partnering, and buddying up with other local practices when needed to help service increased patient numbers.

Working together, General Practices have called on their established relationships across the network, even mobilising a buddy system in some cases to help meet increased demand from patient populations, especially when challenged through unplanned staff shortages due to illness.

'Every practice has felt the pressure and they have been able to keep their doors open and see critical patients by supporting each other wherever possible through this season,” says Nick Page, Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation network services liaison.

Now emerging from the significant demands of this winter peak, the WBOPPHO is looking for opportunities to reunite the network to further assist in maintaining and establishing these important relationships.

One such opportunity was through facilitating and hosting a Service Forum Expo this week on Wednesday, September 21.

Inviting 14 local services from around the BOP to gather and connect with medical practices, the Service Expo provided healthcare workers with a unique opportunity to reconnect, create new collegial relationships, learn, grow, and develop post Covid.

'After identifying a need for services to become more connected to practices around the Bay, we wanted to bring the wider community together by facilitating conversations between practice staff and the people delivering local health and wellbeing services,” says Emma Skellern, WBOPPHO network services liaison.

'General Practices are so busy, so we wanted to provide an opportunity to learn and come together, making it easier for them to connect with the amazing local services they can offer patients.”

Despite being two years on from the start of the pandemic and over its peak, this winter season saw high patient numbers with Covid-19 still circulating in the community, on top of the flu, colds, and other illnesses that New Zealanders have been exposed to with the reopening of our borders.

'It's what the Ministry of Health forecasted. As we haven't had the seasonal flu coming through from travellers we have been protected, but with borders opening, we were more susceptible to falling ill,” says Emma.

Impacting staff absences across the board, winter illnesses haven't only resulted in increased patient numbers, but also decreased staff numbers.

'Winter illnesses have had a significant impact on the primary care workforce. Despite the amazing work they do, doctors and nurses aren't superhuman,” explains Nick.

Donna Hardie, Network Services Liaison at the WBOPPHO, says that Practices have juggled things around and utilised lessons that the Covid surge showed them, using an amalgamation of tools to help get them through the colder months.

'Staff have just got on with things. They have dealt with it as best they could, using a suite of tools such as deferrals, rebooking, shifting appointments, telehealth, and virtual screening. Triage has been important and some things they have been able to resolve over the phone.

'The Covid response and telehealth has meant that the surge has been dealt with better than it could have or would have been a few years ago. Over the phone services are truly embedded in what practices do now and are more accepted from patients,” Donna explains.

Practices have additionally implemented advanced infection control processes.

'We have seen practices implement different infection control processes depending on what works for them. It has helped them keep patients safe from all respiratory illnesses in a way that hasn't been done before,” Nick adds.

Even though the colder months are now behind us, the flu is still prevalent and ensuring patients are up to date with their jab remains important as we move out of winter.

With springtime knocking on our door, Practices across the Bay continue to do all they can to serve patients.

'We could never be short of praising General Practice staff, from doctors, to nurses, admin and anyone in between. They do a massive job, and they always make it work and continue to front up and deliver. We could never undersell praise and recognition of the efforts going on,” says Nick.