At a time when the simple act of handing a piece of paper from one person to another is suddenly a riskier thing to do, the Canterbury Health System has taken urgent steps to remove that risk – and this is just one of a number of ways prescribing has changed in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

When Nurse Practitioner Deb Gillon could no longer visit her patients in their homes due to Covid-19, her skills were quickly redirected to support the pandemic nurse triage call centre.

With COVID-19 at the forefront of everyone’s minds, the Shared Care Planning team has been exploring ways to encourage health care teams to have important conversations about medical decisions with their at risk patients.

Many people across our health systems have been redeployed to different roles to support Canterbury’s collective response to Covid-19.

Seventy four year old Marie Sincock from Woolston has dedicated much of her life to caring for others, even turning her home into a Residential Home for people with disabilities. But, after being diagnosed with Leukaemia last year she became unsteady on her feet and prone to falling.

The Green Prescription is a free support and motivation service for anyone 16 years and over, who needs help with motivation and keeping well.

The stop smoking service, Te Hā – Waitaha is continuing to support people wishing to become smokefree, during level 4 of the Covid-19 response.

A set of transgender care pathways has gone live on Canterbury Community HealthPathways, making available vital information on the medical and mental health and surgical care of transgender people.