In April, the nation’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendan Murphy, made a plea to patients not to neglect your ongoing general health. “Don’t stop going to your GP,” he said.
“There are lots of people with medical conditions in the community who need regular check-ups and regular review….please don’t neglect general health conditions at the moment. That is a really important message.”
While in many ways it feels as though the world has come to a standstill, the truth is that health conditions don’t stand still. It’s important for us to be considered in our approach as to what we do and don’t leave the house for, but in terms of your overall health, please allow your doctor to support you in your decisions.
As far as diagnosis and follow up is concerned, patients can also continue along their treatment path with diagnostic imaging, if that is required. At Jones Radiology, we know that it is more important than ever to keep providing radiology services to our practitioners and patients and we are doing everything we can to make sure this process is as safe and seamless as possible for everyone involved. The truth is there are some medical imaging procedures that should not wait, and there are some that can. This decision needs to be made between you and your referring doctor or specialist.
If you do go on to be referred for imaging, GPs can now refer for our radiology procedures electronically, which means the imaging request is sent straight to us, and we are able to call the patient to arrange an appointment. This streamlines the process of making an appointment and can ease some of the resultant stress and anxiety patients may be feeling.
So while the coronavirus pandemic has effectively put most of our normal activities on hold, if you need medical treatment, the message is: follow it up. Don’t stop going to your GP. We are here to help you, and your health and safety is our number one priority.
