Sadly a patient recently arrested and died in SAU after being referred for a blood transfusion. As a result all patients requiring blood transfusions in the Eastern Bay of Plenty will now need to be discussed and approved with the medical SMO or subspeciality involved in their care. Patients with menorrhagia should be discussed with the gynaecology team.....

As of the 23/12/21 all patients visiting the Whakatāne Hospital Emergency Department will be triaged outside of the Emergency Department building and streamed into red or green pathways. This is well sign posted but we just wanted to update you so you could inform your General Practice patients if they need referring in.....

BOPDHB is establishing a COVID-19 Virtual Ward Round that GPs can refer to. The purpose is to provide a method of discussing non-urgent exacerbations of intercurrent medical conditions due to COVID-19 infection.
Starting on Friday 17th December, you will be able to speak to Dr Kirsten Ramsay, respiratory physician, during dedicated sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between 1pm and 2pm.....

Tauranga ED has a severe nursing shortage at present. As such, please can you make patients aware that they are likely to face long delays if they need to attend.
Please can you also take this into account with regards to any increase in requests for primary care follow-up and support.
Many thanks for your understanding.....

The BOP DHB has recently changed the threshold for referrals to our ENT service.
We will now be accepting a limited of Grade 3 Referrals, please note Grade 3 was previously a decline.....

These concise, clinical sessions delivered by experts on topics of interest to nurses who want to develop their professional skills. These video sessions are 20-30 minutes long. The November 2021 sessions are now available to view. Topics covered for last month are; Health Literacy, Stroke Patient Observation Standards, Resilience and Wellbeing, National Bowel Screening, Trauma Informed Care and Covid 19.....