More trucks a worry
The Port of Auckland will not challenge a recent expansion ban. This could bring serious implications for Matamata.
Auckland Port commemorators have indicated business will be driven away and ports such as Tauranga used instead. This could mean an extra 3000 heavy vehicles a month on our roads ( NZ Herald 29-6-2015).
Consider the continued use of Broadway as part of Highway 24.
I’ve counted as many as 29 heavy trucks in the time it took me to drink a cup of coffee.
Each of those vehicles is a potential hazard to all of us. If the present 24/7 flow of heavy traffic is to be increased on Broadway then one has to ask why the council is seemingly not interested in doing something about it.
A future traffic bypass has been mentioned, that’s good but what about the here and now?
Heavy truck traffic can be diverted around Broadway now by using existing roads. A heavy truck diversion route could be put in place in Matamata with little expense and fuss. All it needs is the political will of our council.
Matamata Medical Centre GP’s and staff take responsibility for patient care very seriously; part of that is to continue to provide 24/7 after-hours care which most neighbouring towns no longer have.
When this call was made last Sunday the weekend urgent clinic had closed and the GP was on call if needed. However, all our afterhours phone calls are transferred and answered by a contracted Nursing Phone Service and not by MMC reception staff (or doctors) so the on-call GP was unaware of this call.
The Nursing Phone Service is a robust service MMC has used for many years and follows exact protocols. All phone calls are recorded.
This patient was triaged by an experienced registered nurse, clear advice was given and accepted for managing the injury, plus the patient was clearly advised to phone back (as per the recorded phone call) if symptoms worsened or he had any concerns.
The triage nurse advised the patient she would then notify the duty doctor to provide treatment, otherwise the patient should see his GP within 24 hours.
On Monday morning the patient was seen and treated at 9am by his own GP and follow-up care prescribed. As we are the only medical centre in Matamata and have more than 14,000 enrolled patients for whom we provide 24/7 cover, we do try our best to provide a quality service. We also have robust systems for any complaints or compliments anyone may wish to make via myself as practice manager. I welcome any patient to call me in the first instance at the surgery.