General Medicine | Lakes | Te Whatu Ora

Public Service, Internal Medicine

Description

Formerly Lakes DHB - General Medicine

General Medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and nonsurgical treatment of diseases affecting the internal organs of the body in adults.

We are a small team made up of medical staff and nurse specialists with support from allied health staff. We provide specialist medical support for inpatients as well as running regular outpatient clinics.

General Medicine will often overlap with other medical services such as:

Services are provided at Rotorua Hospital within the Rotorua Medical Unit, Medical Day Stay Unit and Outpatient clinics.

Where to find us: see the Rotorua Hospital map here.

Services are provided at Taupō Hospital within the Taupō Inpatient Unit and via Outpatient clinics. See the Taupō Hospital map here.

Rotorua Medical Unit

The Medical Unit comprises a 40 bed acute unit, treating cardiac, respiratory, diabetic and general medical patients.

The unit has close links with CCU via the telemetry service and the rehabilitation team based in Older Persons/Rehabilitation Service (OPRS).

Referral Expectations

Hospital Admissions

If you suddenly become unwell and need to be admitted to hospital with a medical rather than a surgical problem, you will most likely be seen by the general medical team. If your GP (General Practitioner) thinks you need to be admitted to hospital they will contact a doctor on the medical team to request admission. Patients are also admitted via the Emergency Department.

General Medical Outpatient Clinic

If your GP wants advice about the diagnosis or management of an illness, they may refer you to this clinic. Your referral is given priority depending on the information in the referral letter. It is important that, if your condition worsens while waiting to be seen, you revisit your GP as we can see you sooner if your situation changes.

The medical outpatient clinic is also where you may be seen after you have been discharged from hospital to follow up any outstanding investigations or to see how you have improved or tolerated medications.