Bearing up! Making it work in lockdown

Last week, general practices were coming up to the end of one full week in lockdown. The initial panic of shifting to unknown virtual technologies had subsided for many, as had the rush of patients coming in for prescriptions and pre-lockdown consultations. Many practices had developed their own protocols for greeting patients to the surgery, “phone first, stay in your car, we’ll let you in” being a common one. As questions about longer-term financial sustainability loomed for many, New Zealand Doctor staff went looking for the upside of a pandemic that has put most of us behind closed doors, but prompted general practice to try new ways of working