March 2025 News
Book Now for our April Flu Clinic!
A yearly flu vaccine is recommended for everyone over 6 months old. It is free if you are aged 65 and over, if you are pregnant, and for lots of other people.
The flu virus changes often, and the vaccine is tweaked each year to match the new strains of the disease. Getting a flu vaccine every year means you have the best protection. Ostend Medical Centre is running dedicated clinics for our patients from 1-4 April to get you and your family protected as early in the flu season as possible.
Flu symptoms come on suddenly and can include fever, chills, muscle aches, runny nose, cough, shortness of breath, and stomach upsets. It can keep you in bed for a week or more, even if you are usually fit and healthy. You could also spread it to vulnerable people, including children, older people or pregnant people. If you catch the flu when you are pregnant, there is a high risk you could develop serious complications, such as premature birth, low birthweight or miscarriage, that can affect your baby.
The flu vaccine is free for people at higher risk of getting very sick, including:
- people aged 65 years and over
- people aged 6 months and over who have a long-term medical condition like diabetes, asthma, or a heart condition
- pregnant people
- tamariki (children) aged 4 years and under who have a history of significant respiratory illness
- people with mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or schizoaffective disorder or who are currently accessing some forms of mental health and addiction services.
For everyone else, Ostend Medical is providing flu vaccines for just $35, the same price as last year, to encourage our patients to protect themselves and our community. Flu jabs are available from 1 April and while we’d like to get you protected as quickly as possible, we plan to have vaccine stock available through May. Call 372 5005 to book your quick and easy appointment today!
Book an Appointment
Following on from ‘Dying Well’
Tēnā koutou / Thank you to the Waiheke community for supporting our recent ‘Dying Well’ information evening. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and we look forward to continuing to support the community with these free education sessions throughout the year.
Huge thanks to Ostend Medical Centre’s Dr Orna McGinn for organising this essential conversation, and to panellists Dr Sheridan Wilson, Dr Anne Callaghan and Dr Annette Forrest. The evening would not have been possible without their support and depth of expertise in this subject matter.
If you couldn’t join us, here are some key takeaways from the evening:
- Consider what gives your life quality and make meaningful memories.
- Talk to your whānau, loved ones and important people in your life and let them know what would bring you peace of mind at the end of your life.
- You are never too young to think about end-of-life care and, in fact, it is best to complete an Advanced Care Plan when you have no pending health issues. Advanced Care Plans can, and should, be updated if your wishes change.
- Complete an Advanced Care Plan, and ensure a copy is given to your GP https://www.myacp.org.nz/
Given the high level of interest in the topic, and the recognition of the importance of planning, Ostend Medical Centre and Waiheke Health Trust will be formalising plans to help community members with the Advanced Care Plan process in the coming months. More information to follow in our next newsletter!
In the meantime, we want to remind you that the extensive services at the Waiheke Health Trust, including the care provided by the team at Ostend Medical Centre, result in one of the highest percentages of people dying in their own homes in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Waiheke Health Trust is a community-founded charitable trust that puts every resource that we receive directly into delivering and expanding our services, ensuring that you can access comprehensive care – right here on Waiheke.
If you’d like to support the Trust, we welcome donations on our website at https://wht.org.nz/support-us/make-a-donation/
Thank you for your support.
Women’s Health and Contraception Services at Ostend Medical
Did you know that Ostend Medical Centre provides a full range of women’s health services, many of which are fully funded? These include:
- Our Tuesday evening Women’s Clinic, staffed by nurse-midwife Linda Hodson, provides a convenient and comfortable option for women to complete cervical and sexual health screenings.
- Free or very low-cost contraception consultations, and insertion and removal of LARCs (Long Acting Reversible Contraception), including IUDs, Mirena and Jadelle.
- Comprehensive menopause advice from Dr Orna McGinn and Dr Zoe Douglass, both of whom specialise in supporting women in all stages of menopause. These consultations are typically booked as double appointments, allowing our team to fully understand your individual needs. Our GPs also provide expert support for pelvic pain and period irregularities.
- New mum and baby appointments to ensure that your transition from maternity care to primary care is a seamless one.
- Completely free appointments with our Health Improvement Practitioner and/or Health Coach who are experienced in helping women across the lifespan improve their mental and physical health through advice on things like sleep, diet, exercise, managing health conditions and healthy relationships.
Call us today – we’re the island’s fully female healthcare team and we’re here to support other women through all stages of life!
More Information on Continuous Glucose Monitors
As part of our ongoing series on diabetes management, Nurse Practitioner Erica Wright has provided the following update on continuous glucose monitoring.
How has blood glucose previously been monitored?
Traditional blood glucose monitoring with a glucose meter or ‘finger prick testing’, samples the blood to tell you what your blood glucose level is at the time you take the test. It does not tell you any high or low readings that might have occurred in-between.
The HbA1C test, which is completed at the clinic, is a blood test that tells your average blood sugar levels over a three-month period. It does not tell you about daily fluctuations. The reason this test is done every three months (and not more often) is that your blood cells replace themselves over a three-month period, so therefore you get a three-month trend of average blood sugar levels.
So, what’s new?
‘Flash’ or intermittent glucose scanning is where a sensor is inserted into the top layer of your skin, and you can scan the sensor with a hand-held smart device to get your glucose levels. It records only the data that is scanned, so, for instance, doesn’t collect information while you are sleeping.
CGM (continuous glucose monitoring) works like the flash sensor, but it is stays connected to an automatic device such as a CGM receiver or smart device so that you don’t need to scan or finger prick to get your readings. The devices record your levels every five minutes, so that at any time you can see whether your glucose levels are trending up or down and how often you are within the target range.
Both CGM and flash intermittent monitoring give you the ability to see the impact food or exercise has on your glucose levels or how glucose levels may be affecting your symptoms.
CGM and flash monitoring devices are only funded for type 1 diabetics, however type 2 diabetic patients can also get a lot of information affordably from short term use of a sensor over a two-to-four-week period. You can learn more online about these types of monitoring devices by watching YouTube videos on the Dexcom and Freestyle Libre devices which are readily available in New Zealand.
The Ostend Medical Team are here to support you and your family if this is something you are interested in learning more about!
We’re Hiring – Medical Receptionist Wanted
Ostend Medical Centre is recruiting a medical receptionist
About the role:
- 3 days per week
- Fast-paced clinic environment, friendly and supportive team
- Competitive pay in line with Health NZ national salary bands
About the ideal candidate:
- Successful experience in a customer service role
- Calm, positive personality
- Comfortable learning new technology
- Desire to help provide excellent healthcare to the Waiheke community
To apply, send your CV to Jen at ceo@waihekehealthtrust.nz by 26th March.
