The 4th urgent care Bootcamp, the 2nd in-person one, was held in Christchurch last weekend (17 and 18 September). It was great to be able to come together and reconnect. Held at the Rydges Hotel in Latimer Square, over 90 delegates attended (with up to 19 online) and listened to exciting, thought-provoking, and practise-changing presentations on a wide range of topics relating to urgent care. Delegates were treated to three or four short talks, followed by a Q-and-A session with the presenters. With ample, high-quality, food and refreshments, and time to meet and greet, everyone who’s expressed an opinion has said how much they got from the weekend and how great it was to meet in person.
The panel discussions on the Sunday covered important matters for urgent care and we were pleased to have attracted a range of experts. These included: Riana Manuel, CE of Te Aka Whai Ora; Samantha Murton, president of RNZCGP; Curtis Walker, chair MCNZ; Sarah Gardiner, lead for the RNZCUC Māori advisory group; Garry Clearwater, FACEM and honorary Fellow; Robyn Carey, CMO Manatu Hauora; Joshua Russell, editor in chief of JUCM; and Ivan Koay, convenor of the Irish Faculty of RNZCUC. It was clear from the discussions that all were in agreement about the need for appropriate funding across all of primary care, that urgent care is an important part of primary healthcare and without it there would be significant impact on GP and ED. It will take a shared, collegial, approach to determine a model such that urgent care clinics are distributed appropriately around the country, supporting patients, ED, and GP.
To cap all this off was the Fellowship ceremony and dinner. With over 75 Fellows graduating since the last in-person Bootcamp, we expected a significant number to come along and be presented with their certificate in-person. In the end, 27 received their certificate on the night. Photos from the evening are available online (click on the link, open the folder, scroll through the photos and download those you wish to).
We would like to acknowledge our sponsors who kindly supported our event. Tāmaki Health was our Platinum sponsor, Enovis (formerly DJO) and ASMS were our Silver sponsors and Counties Medical, MPS and ACC were our Bronze sponsors. MAS kindly sponsored our take-home aide memoir, Medicross Urgent Care our lanyards and MPS also sponsored our statchel bag. We thank them all for supporting urgent care.
