No jab, no consult as doctor sets rules
A LAUNCESTON general practice has implemented a policy that means patients will need to have at least one dose of a Covid vaccine if they want to attend the practice in person.
The policy came into effect on Wednesday at Northern Suburbs Medical Services in Mowbray.
Practice principal Andrew Jackson said while staff at the practice were vaccinated, the policy was to provide an additional protection for them and other patients if there was a Covid outbreak.
“Before we started this I did a statistics snapshot and over 60 per cent of people on any given day had at least one if not two vaccinations, because we have been vaccinating for so long many of our patients have already been vaccinated,” he said.
“What I don’t want to have happen is the practice to become a public exposure site because someone unknowingly comes in while infectious.
“If the practice is closed for even a couple of weeks it is a very serious matter because we are unable to properly provide medical services to people in the local area, and as a vaccinating practice would be unable to vaccine people.”
Dr Jackson said with the vaccine now available it was important to look at new ways to live with the virus as borders opened and it became more accepted that getting to zero cases might be impossible.
Exemptions to the policy include those attending the clinic to have their first Covid vaccination, those attending for urgent care and children below the age of 16. The practice will continue to provide telehealth as an option.
After the practice announced the policy last month, graffiti was sprayed on a wall of the clinic. A day later it had been changed slightly to read “stick your vaccine up your arm”.
Australian Medical Association Tasmania spokeswoman Annette Barratt said the best way to protect healthcare workers and other members of the community was vaccination but that it was not AMA policy to mandate jabs.
“It’s an individual decision made by the individual practice, making a decision appropriate for the individual practice. It’s not a policy the AMA is recommending,” Dr Barratt said.