Mudgee Respiratory Clinic closes today, here's what happens next

Friday September 30 is its final day of operation in its current form.

Following its closure, patients with respiratory issues will have to see their GP.

"What we plan to do after the clinic closes is that we will see people with respiratory illnesses in our practice," Dr Alex Ghanem said.

"If people test positive for COVID, we just want them to buy a RAT and let the staff know. At the moment we're offering phone consultations for people that test positive and we're able to prescribe antivirals via phone consultation which is what we've been doing for those at risk and those who qualify for antiviral treatment."

This change will take things back to 'business as normal' but Dr Ghanem stressed that COVID is far from over.

"People just need to keep abreast of what's happening. It's not the end of COVID. Be careful, particularly around people that are vulnerable, the elderly, those that are immunocompromised, the pregnant, the very young.

"We're not asking you to stop all those measures of hand washing and staying away from these people when you're unwell we're just asking you to remain vigilant and careful."

The combination of winter and an easing of restrictions on mask wearing saw a surge of infected people that put local health services under further stress.

"It was an incredibly busy winter. It probably started late April, I think. We were really overwhelmed. There was an extraordinary number of people with COVID, Influenza, RSV - we probably saw a fraction of those. I think a lot of people managed themselves at home," Dr Ghanem said.

"But there was an extraordinary number of people. It certainly came to fruition this prediction that we would see COVID, influenza and RSV. We certainly saw all three - we saw that in the hospital as well."

Reflecting on the clinic's success and the region's overwhelming support for health measures, Dr Ghanem wanted to commend residents for their assistance.

"We've seen over 20,000 people through the clinic... that ran between five to seven days a week," Dr Ghanem said.

"We're very fortunate - I feel very privileged to be in this community. The support and backing that we've had during the pandemic - the community really stepped up when we asked them to come in and be vaccinated. We've got incredibly high vaccination rates. People really did do the right thing.

"We had wonderful support from Council and once again a very big thanks to Council. Brad [Cam] and Des [Kennedy] were incredibly supportive and came on board very early.

"We were supported on all levels and we were fortunate we were able to collaborate with our colleagues at Mudgee Medical Centre and we're all on board trying to keep the public safe.