Northland health providers struggling dealing with flu and Covid

Get flu vaccine and help Northland's already stretched health system cope better, medical professionals plead. Photo / Supplied

Northland health providers are begging the public to get the flu vaccine to prevent serious illness as the health system fights a twindemic of flu and Covid 19.

The calls come as reports emerge that Whangārei Hospital has been treating patients in tents and corridors as virus infections surge.

Bush Rd Medical Centre GP Dr Geoff Cunningham said the twindemic along with Northland's long-running GP shortage has doctors struggling to keep up.

"It's having a massive impact, we're just frantically busy.

"The problem is that we can't be sure what's Covid and what's flu."

The symptoms of both viruses overlap, but you often can't tell from your symptoms which virus you have.

"We're seeing a lot of very sick people with influenza.

"We couldn't be busier and the normal general practice work doesn't stop."

Cunningham also works at White Cross after-hours medical centre, which is facing similar issues.

"We've got staff shortages at White Cross necessitating early closes, unfortunately.

"Primary care is the cornerstone of the healthcare system and if that falls over, we can all see what's happening."

Epidemiologist Michael Baker has called for mandatory 7-day isolation for those who contract the flu, treating the illness the same way we deal with Covid-19.

"That's probably not unreasonable," Cunningham said of Baker's flu isolation idea.

"The severity of influenza that we're seeing in patients is reasonably similar to what we're seeing in the Omicron variant of Covid."

Co-owner of the Bush Rd Medical Centre Dr Geoff Cunningham said the mix of flu and Covid is hitting health practices hard. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Cunningham said the flu jab is the best way to avoid becoming severely ill if you catch the flu, or even catching it all together,

"The flu jab is always your best protection against influenza.

"It's strongly recommended, we consider it essential."

"If people aren't overly unwell, they can just do sensible self-care, that's staying at home, paracetamol, fluids.

"Of course, if they're really concerned and they're getting increasingly unwell we need to and want to see them."

Far North health provider Te Rūnanga o Whaingaroa spokesman Raniera Kaio said the increase in demand for support was being felt by the team's nurses.

"There's been an uptake in the number of calls and appointments through our health service, just in regard to the fact that they can't get an appointment with the doctors... because there is so much flu around as well as Covid.

"The nurses are managing at the moment, but they definitely can see that this will not last long term, it will be a clear drain on our resources both human and otherwise."

Te Rūnanga o Whaingaroa spokesman Raniera Kaio said the health provider has had success promoting the flu vaccine in Kāeo, but the demand from those ill is high. Photo / Supplied

The Māori health organization in Kāeo is waiting with crossed fingers for increased support under the new Health NZ oversight as promised in the Government's 2022 Budget.

"A small health provider service like ours runs on a team of five, one of them goes down (with illness) it's sort of dominoes from there."

It's not all bad news for the Far North. Kaio said the team had a successful response to community immunisation.

"Last month we had a bit of an immunization drive... leading into winter and autumn.

"(We) delivered, I think twice as many flu vaccines as we did last year."

The health provider has also seen success with its mobile health service, delivering the flu vaccine to the rural Far North community.

"They've seen those numbers and requests for the flu vaccine out as far north as Hihi."

"The public definitely recognized that this was going to be a problem this year."

Anyone over six months can have a flu vaccine according to the Ministry of Health.

This year's flu vaccine is free for the following groups:

• Pregnant people
• Māori communities and Pacific people aged 55 years and older
• Everyone aged 65 years and older
• People aged under 65 years with certain medical conditions
• People under 65 years of age who have schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or schizoaffective disorder; OR are currently accessing secondary or tertiary mental health and addiction services
• Children/tamariki aged 3–12 years
• Children/tamariki under 3 years who have been hospitalised for respiratory illness or have a history of significant respiratory illness.

Health NZ advice for non-urgent patients

Do you have cold or flu symptoms? If so:
The best treatment is to stay home and get plenty of rest, fluids and medicines that ease your symptoms.
You don't need antibiotics (they won't fix your cold, flu or Covid-19).
To check for Covid, take a RAT test and isolate if needed.

For 24/7 health advice and guidance for when to seek medical care, freephone Healthline on 0800 611 116 or download and check the Emergency Q app.