Tuesday 20 September 2011, 5:50PM

 

New Zealand Doctor reporters were in Christchurch on 4 September attending the RNZCGP annual conference when the first 7.1 magnitude quake struck. Since then we have attempted to keep general practice up to date withth impact on people and practices of the earthquakes that occurred over subsequent months. The stories below are a collection of articles appearing in our print publication. At the time of the quakes we provided comprehensive online coverage with links to information coming out of Civil Defence and other government agencies. These can be found by using the search function on this website.

PHOTOGALLERIES  ---  4 September 2010  ---  22 February 2011

Record of earthquakes to date - Geonet

 

7 September 2011 

 

Quake preparedness not taken seriously
Liane Topham-Kindley
Cantabrians did not expect an earthquake in their region and were generally unprepared, new research shows. "Everyone thought the big one would be in Wellington," Victoria University psychology professor John McClure says…read more

New funding model on agenda in Canterbury
Liane Topham-Kindley
New configurations of health services and funding models in general practice are being considered in Canterbury in the wake of the region's earthquakes. Canterbury DHB's earthquake response has centred around providing more services in the community, and these services require new funding models, the DHB's planning and funding manager, Carolyn Gullery, says…read more

Neighbours give first aid for mind
Liane Topham-Kindley
The most effective social support after the Canterbury earthquakes came from neighbours and communities, a community psychologist says. Psychological first aid - the initial assistance involving practical and emotional support - was a powerful tool, according to Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology applied psychology lecturer Libby Gawith…read more

Jojo's Place gives quake kids a lift
Virginia McMillan
Canterbury children have been finding an online friend to soothe the emotional wounds of earthquakes, aftershocks and disrupted family life. The website Jojo's Place is getting 120 to 150 visits a day and received a "spike" in hits after the 13 June quake, says one of the site's instigators, Auckland public health registrar Suneela Mehta…read more

 

10 August 2011

 

Why sudden rush of blood kills
Amanda Cameron
Mike Ardagh has a theory about severe crush injury syndrome. The phenomenon of a person suddenly dying from their crush injuries once they are freed is due to an anaphylactoid reaction, suggests the Christchurch emergency medicine specialist. Dr Ardagh saw his fair share of crush injuries during the February earthquake…read more

T-shirt fundraiser honours Clinic GP
Katie Marriner
The daughter of a GP killed in The Clinic in Christchurch's February earthquake is raising money to help restart the youth health centre that formerly employed her father. Westlake Girls' High School student Haya Al-Ani, 18, hopes to raise $12,000 by selling custom-designed t-shirts online and at the school…read more

'Pathways' site aims at patients
Liane Topham-Kindley
Following success of the Health Pathways website for Canterbury GPs, a similar site has been developed for patients. "[I]t's quite difficult to find out information as a patient," says Christchurch GP and member of the Canterbury Initiative development team Graham McGeoch…read more

ChCh practice faces crisis over consents
Katie Marriner
Staff of a Christchurch practice are at their wits' end after delays with the council consent process stalled relocation to new premises. The Christchurch Doctors, a merger of GPs from the High Street Medical Centre and Salisbury Health Centre, is due to sign a lease on a Colombo Street building…read more

 

27 July 2011

 

Canty adds $1.5m for mental health
Katie Marriner
Canterbury DHB is channelling $1.5 million into mental health services to help Christchurch residents cope with the ongoing trauma of the September, February and June earthquakes. The money is coming from existing funding made available, for example, by re-prioritising after some initiatives could not go ahead following the 22 February earthquake…read more

Pink boots for a pink princess
Gerrard Verkaaik
A story from the frontline of caring for those displaced by the Christchurch earthquakes…Mum was obviously tired, apprehensive, barely holding together, on the verge of tears. Daughter, aged about seven, wore a too-large but pretty, pink polar-fleeced jacket from which protruded the pert face of a fuzzy white teddy, nuzzled close to her heart. The bear was a gift from the mobile team van, which had sent them to the centre…read more

Adopt-a-practice gains momentum
Liane Topham-Kindley
Helping out general practice in Christchurch has been a family affair for Nelson GP Eloise Fry. Dr Fry and her GP husband, Mark, answered General Practice New Zealand's call for assistance in earthquake-stricken Christchurch last month. They were so moved by what they saw during their week in the garden city, they encouraged Dr Fry's parents - Whangarei GP and practice manager couple, Bruce and Enid Cottee - to do the same…read more

 

13 July 2011

 

Zoning threatens practice viability
Liane Topham-Kindley
Medical centres in some parts of Christchurch may find their populations decimated once residents respond to the latest zoning of their properties. The likelihood of people leaving earthquake-damaged areas because they cannot rebuild is a major concern, according to long-time New Brighton GP John Cook…read more

Plans for integrated centres fast tracked
Liane Topham-Kindley
Plans for integrated family health centres and services in Christchurch have been sped up and scaled up. Five to six integrated family health centres (IFHC) and networks are likely to be developed in the city to replace damaged infrastructure. Pegasus Health chief exec-utive Vince Barry says, since the February earthquakes, a number of GPs have expressed interest in working on a model for IFHCs or integrated health networks, where a group of practices regard their population as one…read more
 
ChCh: new leases, new partnerships
Liane Topham-Kindley
Just before the devastating February earthquake in Christchurch, GP Tim Wilson spotted empty premises in a Chinese supermarket down the road from where he lives. "I used to wander down and buy wontons and the owner said, about two weeks before the February earthquake, he was looking to lease it," Dr Wilson says…read more

Canterbury DHB working quick and smart post quakes 
Liane Topham-Kindley
A focus on looking after people in the community is reaping benefits for Canterbury DHB, where hospital admissions and occupancy have declined in spite of earthquakes and cold temperatures. The DHB has revamped its acute demand project with incentive payments to general practices to help them better monitor patients and keep them out of hospital…read more

Almost half of ChCh practices lose income
Liane Topham-Kindley
Almost half of Christchurch's general practices have lost income since February's earthquakes. About 40 per cent of practices across the city have lost capitation funding as a result of having fewer enrolled patients, Canterbury Primary Response Group coordinator Phil Schroeder says…read more

 

29 June 2011

 

Never too late to plan for emergencies
Virginia McMillan
DHBs could soon start requiring emergency preparedness in their primary care contracts. The boards are pushing strongly for general practice to plan for business disruption and have discussed introducing a contractual requirement, says northern region primary care emergency planner Andy Wisheart…read more

Back to 'square one' as ChCh shakes again
Liane Topham-Kindley
Christchurch's general practice leaders are looking for measures to support practice viability as the city reels from another heavy series of earthquake aftershocks. Suburban practices were hit just as hard by this month's magnitude 5.7 and 6.3 quakes (>>nzdoctor.co.nz, 'News', 13, 14,15,16 June) as they were by February's devastating quake, Canterbury Primary Response Group coordinator Phil Schroeder says…read more

 

15 June 2011

 

Subsidy withdrawn as losses mount 
Amanda Cameron
Christchurch GP Jacques Marchand has his fingers crossed that patient numbers will soon return to normal after a government wage subsidy ended last month. Dr Marchand had relied on the Employer Support Subsidy to keep paying staff at Doctors on Cashel since February's earthquake forced the relocation of the inner-city practice. The subsidy for quake-affected businesses ended on 31 May after 16 weeks…read more

'Phenomenal effort' following quake
Virginia McMillan
Coordinating care for about 1500 Christchurch earthquake evacuees in the capital earned Compass Health's Chris Kerr an award for outstanding leadership. The award was made for "phenomenal efforts" by Ms Kerr, Compass Health's clinical director of primary care services, says Kerrie Hayes, Capital & Coast DHB director of nursing and midwifery, and was presented on International Nurses Day last month…read more

 

18 May 2011

 

Gazing through the (broken) looking glass
Rosie Laing
Two weeks ago the bulldozers finally arrived at Christchurch GP Rose Laing's Lyttelton house It is hard to convey how strange life is in Christchurch these days. It is probably impossible for anyone who hasn't lived through the last seven months here to "get it" and I hope other Kiwis never have a chance to find out how things change when your world has been both shaken and stirred…read more

Add another 3900 patients to that...
Liane Topham-Kindley
There has been no ordinary day at the office for Moorhouse Medical Centre ever since it acquired the 3900 patients of central Christchurch's The Clinic, destroyed in the February earthquake. Within a fortnight of the quake flattening the building where The Clinic was based, agreement had been reached between the two businesses that Moorhouse would take on the patients' care, with immediate effect…read more

 

4 May 2011

 

Home closures cut jobs
Jen de Montalk
Damage caused by the 22 February earthquake in Canterbury has put hundreds of aged-care workers out of work. Between 800 and 1000 jobs have been affected by the closure of eight aged-care facilities, Service and Food Workers Union national secretary John Ryall says. More jobs hang in the balance with severe structural damage threatening to close Radius residential care home St Ives, according to Mr Ryall…read more

Hanmers's medical team steps up
Liane Topham-Kindley
Christchurch's earthquake has highlighted the strengths of the rural general practice team at Hanmer Springs.  No pharmacy, nor hospital in the town, the practice team had little option but to just get on with it when the town's population increased five-fold in the days following the 22 February quake…read more

Chch practices in 'no-man's land'
Liane Topham-Kindley
Christchurch practice owners feel their businesses are on shifting sands financially, more than two months since the 6.3-magnitude earthquake. While business has picked up in many city practices, owners are unsure whether things will return to pre-quake norms or whether they will have to lay off staff, Canterbury Primary Response Group spokesperson Phil Schroeder says…read more

 

20 April 2011

 

Remembering the 'dream team'
Southern Correspondent Liane Topham-Kindley brings together recollections about the staff of The Clinic who died in the 22 February earthquake - Dr Maysoon Mahdi Abbas (61), Dominic Joseph Gerard Bell (45), Allan Alexander Sinclair (45): Practice manager Beverley Faye Kennedy (60) Receptionist Dian Mary Falconer (54): Nurse Elizabeth Jane Grant (51): Nurse Teresa McLean (40): Nurse Christine Patricia Stephenson (61): Osteopath Janet Dawn Meller (58) Psychologist Susan Lyn Selway (50), Kyle Jack-Midgley (27) …read more

Quake's huge cost burden on DHB
Liane Topham-Kindley
Canterbury DHB is heading towards a $16 million deficit as costs mount for new projects keeping health services going in quake-stricken Christchurch. At last count there were 140 projects in the post-quake recovery plan, DHB general manager of planning and funding Carolyn Gullery says. There's not one part of the health system that does not need some sort of fix, she says…read more

[More stories to be uploaded]