It aimed to respond to higher demand and pressure on Whanganui medical services, particularly from more prevalent respiratory illnesses such as flu, Covid-19 and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus).<\/p>\n
Whanganui Accident and Medical (WAM) has set up a winter clinic with extra nurses, running Monday to Friday, midday to 8pm, for drop-ins. <\/p>\n
\u201cWAM\u2019s been proactive for winter by setting up this winter clinic,\u201d Ryder said.<\/p>\n
The clinic will be run mainly by nurses, with doctors available if needed, aiming to see people as quickly as possible and keep them out of the waiting room.<\/p>\n
Ryder said nothing was received for primary care in Whanganui from the Health NZ winter boost.<\/p>\n
It \u201cwould have been nice\u201d to receive support that could have been directed towards preventative services, she said.<\/p>\n
Feels like Covid but not testing as Covid<\/p>\n
Ryder said they had noticed a different, \u201cquite heavy\u201d cold that felt like Covid but was not showing up on tests as Covid.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I can say is that it\u2019s a virus, and it will probably feel to the person like anything from a cold through to a serious flu.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re feeling worse than you would have, normally, with a cold.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryder encouraged people with these symptoms to look after themselves, stay home, avoid spreading it, especially to older people and babies, open house windows, stay hydrated and get their flu vaccine.<\/p>\n
Unichem Pharmacy Springvale owner Melina Holmes said while illness rates were \u201cpretty much on par\u201d with previous years, people were suffering more long-term bugs, sometimes up to two weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people are getting sick these days, they\u2019re getting really sick. We tend to see a lot more people knocked about by viruses and illnesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pharmacy Over East pharmacist Fion McKibben said Covid-19 was \u201cbasically not around this year\u201d, with prescriptions for antivirals slowing during 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely less Covid than we\u2019ve seen in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over autumn, the pharmacy saw slightly fewer patients with colds and flu than usual, due to milder weather<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sales of over-the-counter cold and flu medications picked up during the past month, McKibben said.<\/p>\n People with coughs, colds, sneezing or who felt under the weather should stay home and look after themselves, McKibben said.<\/p>\n Those with body pain, shakes and chills, or prolonged fever should contact a doctor.<\/p>\n Winter preparedness and antibiotics<\/p>\n Whanganui Regional Health Network\u2019s winter preparedness plan encourages people to avoid treating viruses with antibiotics.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can\u2019t cure colds, flus or most coughs as these are caused by viruses,\u201d the plan said.<\/p>\n Unichem Whanganui Pharmacy owner Melina Holmes has noticed a spike in antibiotic and antiviral prescriptions, which swelled staff workload.<\/p>\n She said coughs, viruses and colds could be dealt with before they led to secondary complications, such as chest infections, requiring antibiotics.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s definitely more bugs going around. We\u2019ve seen it with the number of staff sick,\u201d Holmes said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s probably one of the hard things that we have to juggle.\u201d<\/p>\n Holmes said pharmacies found it particularly \u201ctricky\u201d when staff were off sick because of pre-existing understaffing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re still understaffed. There\u2019s still a shortage of qualified staff in pharmacy<\/a>, which has always been an ongoing issue but it feels particularly bad at the moment<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Customers were being more responsible about their illnesses, Holmes said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople wearing masks is a much more accepted practice.\u201d<\/p>\n Vomiting and diarrhoea were common year-round.<\/p>\n Winter flu and RSV<\/p>\n