Despite the many announcements and assurances from the government, the process for Australians to be vaccinated against COVID-19 remains confusing and has left everyone short on the details.

Queen Street Medical Centre is well prepared and ready to vaccinate but to date we have only been promised 50 doses of the COVID vaccine.

These will not be delivered until after Easter. We have planned our rollout of the COVID vaccine along the same lines as our flu vaccination clinics.

When supplies of the vaccine arrive, we will administer it according to the government queue. Dr Neil Starmer, Practice Partner

This information is taken directly from the Australian Government, Department of Health website – https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-vaccines/getting-vaccinated-for-covid-19/when-will-i-get-a-covid-19-vaccine

This video describes how vaccines will be rolled out, and who they will go to first. Australia’s COVID-19 vaccines will become available in phases. Priority groups have been identified using public health, medical and epidemiological evidence. Learn about priority groups and who will receive the first doses of the vaccine. This includes people that would be at higher risk of serious illness if they contracted COVID-19, and those most likely to be exposed to it.

DISTRIBUTION AND SUPPLIES ARE GOVERNED BY THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT.

PLEASE DO NOT PHONE US – WE WILL POST ALL INFORMATION ON THIS SITE.  Follow the Read more link for the full story and important links.

We have introduced electronic prescriptions – you will still have the option to have a paper prescription, but electronic prescriptions are convenient, easy and efficient for you, your doctor and your pharmacist.  Follow the read more link for more information and to watch the short video.

A warm welcome to our new GP registrars – Dr Neil Mackay and Dr Borna Das, who joined our Moruya GP team on Monday, 1st February.

After four years of training in orthopaedics in far north Queensland, Dr Mackay completed his first 12 months of the 18-month GP  registrar training programme in Pambula last year and joined us to complete his final training semester – Neil and his young family have decided to settle here in our local area. 

Dr Das has now embarked on her first six-month GP training semester after recently working as a Senior Resident Medical Officer (SRMO) in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department of Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital.

This month marks a milestone for our Dr Peter James who is retiring on December 21st after nearly 40 years of dedicated, wonderful service to the health and wellbeing of our Eurobodalla community.

Peter spent his early GP years working in rural Queensland until moving to Brisbane to practice and later heading to Sylvania in Sydney. Peter finally settled with his family here on the South Coast where he worked for many years as a Visiting Medical Officer at Batemans Bay Hospital in addition to his GP consulting at Batemans Bay Medical Centre.

In 2014 Peter joined our Queen Street Medical Centre where he’s a much loved and highly regarded member of our GP team. Peter, we extend our deepest thanks and very best wishes to you for a healthy, relaxing and enjoyable retirement – it’s been a pleasure and priviledge to work with you and we’ll miss you greatly.

With Summer on our doorstep and Aussie skin cancer rates among the highest in the world, it’s time to put on the sun protection and a reminder to be checking our skin.

According to our skin cancer management GP Dr Thilan Walgamage, we need to be checking our skin every month “it’s not just a quick once over” he says “think of your skin like a road map – check head to toe and study your spots and moles and take notice of any changes. In the early stages of skin cancer development, you’re the one with the best chance to see changes”.

Thilan’s advice is that if you see something NEW, CHANGING or UNUSUAL get it checked by trained professional right away. It could be skin cancer. This is what you should look for…

It’s just over 12 months since we announced the appointment of our clinical pharmacist Jo McMahon. The clinical results and feedback from our clinical team and our patients are impressive.

“I have checked blood results and calculated renal function for hundreds of medicines to ensure that the dose is correct. Patients discharged from hospital who need to understand changes that have been made to their prescribed medicines can be followed up and I can liaise with the patient’s community pharmacy if required.”

As we greet these first days of Spring, it seems fitting to be extending a warm welcome to Dr Bronwyn Henderson. Dr Henderson is the newest member of our practice GP team taking our tally of GPs joining us since August 2019, to six . This team of six now comprises doctors Nadira Khan, Shenoa Holliday, Gareth Carroll, Polina Smerdova, Lisa Brown and Bronwyn Henderson.

Bronwyn started her clinical career in 2005 as an intensive care paramedic and clinical education tutor in Auckland. Since 2017 she  has been a resident medical officer and an emergency department registrar at Wollongong and Shoalhaven hospitals. In March Bronwyn was appointed an occasional locum emergency department (ED) registrar at Moruya and Batemans Bay Hospitals.

Dr Henderson is now consulting Tuesday to Thursday at our Moruya practice.  

The Australian government has launched it’s new tracing app COVIDSAFE. We are advised that the more people who use this app, the easier and faster it will be to trace those who’ve come into contact with the virus.  We’ve included these links so you can learn more about the app and how to download it to your phone. Click on the this link here

Dear Patients, over the years so many of you have come to know our wonderful Patient Services Manager and registered nurse, Annie Williams – we know this because whenever we’re out and about with “Celebrity Annie” every five metres is a “social occasion” as she’s stopped and greeted warmly by so many of our patients eager for a chat.

Annie retires tomorrow, 24 April – it’s such a milestone for the practice because for the past 11 years, Annie has been such a positive influence in so many ways upon us all. The good news however, is that Annie will return to help out the nursing team from time to time. Since 2018, Annie has managed our dedicated Patient Services Team. Just managing the daily volume of calls (recently over 600 on some days) is a challenge and when not operating under this COVID-19 pandemic, our practice team usually manage the health needs of 350 to 400 patients per day, in addition to providing admin and nursing support for 8 to 12 doctors plus our visiting specialists. 

Our congratulations to our Nurse Manager Shelley Pritchett (pictured left) who is taking up the challenging Practice Manager role from Monday 27 April. Since 2017 Shelley has been been such a valued member of our managment team and just like Annie, she is well equipped for this demanding operational role. Shelley we wish you every support and success.

Here’s some good news for patients not eligible for the government-funded flu vaccine – we have received our practice supply of the vaccines for sale for $25. So if you’re aged 5 to 64 years and you don’t have a chronic disease, you may purchase your vaccine from our practice. 

Please phone us to book your flu vaccination – the first clinic at our Moruya practice is on Wednesday, 29 April 2020 from 2.00pm to 4.30pm. 

Appointments for a flu vaccination only are bulk-billed – you will only be charged $25 for your influenza vaccine. You will be asked to pay for your vaccine before you receive it.

Advice to all our patients: We continue to impose stringent infection control measures – if you have a respiratory infection of any description you must contact us before your appointment for instructions about your consultation at our ‘off-site’ respiratory clinic – you must not enter the practice. We sincerely appreciate your co-operation during this COVID-19 pandemic. We are doing our utmost to safeguard the health of all in our practice so we can continue to remain open.  Please ensure you observe all requests by our staff and doctors and continue to be open and honest about your health and COVID-19 risk. 

Some welcome news for our Broulee patients – our practice will re-open on Friday 24 April 2020.

We appreciate the understanding and patience of our Broulee patients during these difficult circumstances.

Advice to all our patients: We continue to impose stringent infection control measures – if you have a respiratory infection of any description you must contact us before your appointment for instructions about your consultation at our ‘off-site’ respiratory clinic – you must not enter the practice. We sincerely appreciate your co-operation during this COVID-19 pandemic. We are doing our utmost to safeguard the health of all in our practice so we can continue to remain open.  Please ensure you observe all requests by our staff and doctors and continue to be open and honest about your health and COVID-19 risk.