COVID-19 CLINICAL UPDATES

COVID-19 CLINIC UPDATES

MONDAY 26 July 2021

CLINIC TO REMAIN OPEN DURING LOCKDOWNS

Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine is considered an essential service as a registered profession and therefore Westgarth Chinese Medicine Centre will operate and WILL REMAIN OPEN during Victoria's 7 day lockdown.

If you want further information on allied health check the government website https://ahpa.com.au/allied-health-professions/

Every precaution remains to be taken to ensure your safety in the clinic.
Should you have any further questions, feel free to call Dr Vlado in the clinic.

Thursday 27 MAY 2021

CLINIC TO REMAIN OPEN DURING VICTORIA'S 7 DAY LOCKDOWN

Wednesday 17 february 2021

CLINIC REOPENS THIS THURSDAY 18 FEBRUARY

We swear that you could hear an audible sigh of relief as the Victorian Government announced the 5 day snap lockdown restrictions would be eased.

Appointments are possible as of 11:59pm Wednesday 17 February 2021.

Westgarth Chinese medicine Centre will be OPEN from 1pm Thursday 18 February, 2021, as normal.

Face masks must again be worn in clinic and throughout your session. They can be removed in the clinical setting for assessment or treatment of the face. This rule is said to be in place until midnight on Friday 26th of February 2021.

Regardless of these restrictions, we are truly overjoyed to be seeing you in clinic soon.

If you happen to be isolating or still in lockdown, please contact us for herbal consults and herbal top ups.

FRIDAY 12 February 2021

As you are all aware, the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced a snap 5-day coronavirus lockdown for the whole of Victoria, enforced from 11:59pm Friday 12th February, 2021 until 11:59pm Wednesday 17th February, 2021..

The clinic is NOT PERMITTED TO OPEN IN THIS TIME.

If you are booked within the 5 day period, expect a call from one of our lovely team to reschedule you in the coming weeks.

THURSDAy 6 AUGUST

COVID-19 LATEST UPDATE

For a moment there we thought we would have to close the clinic and yesterday afternoon we advised patients accordingly, cancelling the immediate patients for today.

The latest advice from the authorities from Thursday 6 August is;

Chinese medicine is considered an essential service as a registered profession and therefore Westgarth Chinese Medicine Centre can continue to operate and WILL REMAIN OPEN during the stage 4 lockdown restrictions.

Current updates have clarified that:
In the STATE OF EMERGENCY appointments can only be provided to our patients if the absence of, or delay of this care, would result in a significant change/deterioration in the patient/client’s functional independence necessitating escalation of care.

If you deem your condition as essential for acupuncture/herbal care, please book a face-to-face appointment and come in.

If not, Telehealth appointments remain available.

The DHHS provides guidelines for permitted care as:

To avoid a requirement for specialist input/review
To avoid an increase in care needs and/or alternate accommodation
To avoid a hospital admission or emergency department presentation.

If you are unsure please give us a ring in the clinic and talk to Dr Vlado to clarify it.
The Government wants to minimise the movements in Melbourne and therefore stop the spreading of the virus, but at the same time not to allow people's health to deteriorate significantly.

Medical appointments are exempt from the 5km radius rule. If you are asked to provide proof of the purpose of you trip, you'll need to show an SMS or email reminder for your appointment that specifies the time and date.

Every precaution remains to be taken to ensure your safety in the clinic.
We remain open and together we will get through this challenging time.

Tuesday 31 MARCH

THE CLINIC REMAINS OPEN FOR OUR USUAL ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENTS.

VIRTUAL CONSULTATIONS ARE AVAILABLE AS WELL.

We are taking greater precautionary measures in the clinic so you may notice some changes.

These include:

REDUCED HOURS:

We are reducing our appointments to enable us to both maintain the clinic environment and to minimise contact in the course of a day.

Vlado will now work
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 3-7pm
Tuesday’s 10am - 1 pm

SPACING BETWEEN APPOINTMENT TIMES
We are spacing out our appointment times. This limits the wait time in the waiting room and minimises contact with others outside of imposed isolation

VIRTUAL CONSULTATIONS:
As you may well be aware, we now offer Virtual Consultations.

These sessions include everything that you have come to know and love about Vlado’s treatments- diagnosis, herbal prescription, lifestyle advice.

They were put in place as a response to the current situation so that we can remain of service and you are able to access the clinic as you need in this time.

So, if you have flu like symptoms, you are vulnerable, have a chronic illness, self isolating, or looking after someone that is vulnerable then this treatment option available and you can avoid coming into the clinic.

We can post herbs or we can organise a pick up if that’s easier for you.

For more details about these sessions click here

To book a virtual session click here.

In our general clinic environment:

You’ll now see paper on the beds which is refreshed after every client
We are regular wiping hard surfaces door knobs
We have (sadly) taken away our daily handmade herbal tea
And ask you to bring your own water bottles into the clinic rather than use our cups.

Everyday we see the shifts and changes in our current landscape. At Westgarth Chinese Medicine Centre, we are changing the landscape of the clinic to accomodate the external circumstances.

These changes are adaptive and temporary.

If you need to chat about these changes feel free to call the clinic.

If you need to see Vlado outside of the new reduced hours then call us, if we can accomodate you, we will.

Together we will get through through the next few months.

MONDAY 23 MARCH

IMPORTANT NOTICE: THE CLINIC IS OPEN AS USUAL WITH SOME REDUCED HOURS (TBA)

SUNDAY 22 MARCH

IMPORTANT NOTICE: MONDAY 23 MARCH AND AT THIS STAGE TUESDAY 24TH MARCH THE CLINIC WILL BE OPEN AS USUAL. WE WILL ADVISE AS UPDATES PROGRESS

Extraordinary Times Call For Extraordinary Measures

IN A NUTSHELL:

THE CLINICAL IS OPERATING ON MONDAY 23RD AND TUESDAY 24TH MARCH WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING MEASURES IN PLACE.

THE CLINIC IS WORKING TOWARDS ONLINE CONSULTATIONS WITH VLADO WHICH WILL BE IN PLACE ASAP

Hi All,

As Victoria heads into imminent lockdown we all begin to grapple with what that actually means. We, along with you, have been on the pulse of happenings, listening to appropriate advice and moving the clinic in ways that best accomodate the current climate and support clients.

The announcement as it is made, has the potential to see us as a community in good stead but is a huge adjustment for all.

We see the clinic as a vital support to our clients, in all the ways. The philosophy of Chinese Medicine has always been about adaption and integration. Even through the initial instance of the Coronavirus the Chinese government has claimed that “herbal remedies were crucial in constricting the spread of COVID-19”1. According to China's Ministry for Science and Technology, by late February more than 85 per cent of coronavirus patients in China had received herbal remedies alongside mainstream anti-viral drugs, with successful results. Chinese hospitals have been using what they believe are tried-and-tested herbal medicines to improve immune systems and strengthen patients' physical resolve against the virus.

We know that the application of both acupuncture and herbal medicine is vast and wide, and as clients, you have experienced this.

As a result, we are transitioning to online consultations with Vlado. The consultations will include what you have come to know and love about Vlado’s treatments- diagnosis, herbal prescription, lifestyle advice. Necessary herbs will be posted out.

The Clinic will run as normal both Monday 23rd March and at this stage Tuesday 24th March, with the appropriate rules of social distancing in place. By then we will find out if the clinic will stay open through the current lockdown procedure.

Online consultations will be available asap (we will email you as soon as this is up and running).