14th February 2021:

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Optometrists are classed as an essential service provider in the delivery of 'emergency & acute' eye care during Alert level 3.

 
Please be advised that throughout Level 3 our Auckland CBD, Newmarket, St Heliers and Takapuna practices will be operating.
 
We are open to provide virtual and physical consultations for triaging and treating eye conditions that require emergency or urgent care, new spectacles (if you have lost or broken your spectacles and these are required to carry out your usual daily functions), spectacle repairs, contact lenses, contact lens solutions, eye drops and prescriptions for medicated eye drops or oral medications. You can place orders by email or phone.
 
Complimentary courier delivery or contactless pickup is available for any products that have already been ordered and for any orders placed while we are at Level 3. 
 
If you are unsure about anything related to your eyes or eyewear, please do not hesitate to call or send an email, we would be more than happy to provide advice and assistance.
 
The contact details for Mortimer Hirst are listed below:
 
Auckland CBD ph. 09 3798950          Email reception@mortimerhirst.co.nz
Newmarket      ph. 09 5201000          Email receptionnmk@mortimerhirst.co.nz
St Heliers         ph. 09 5758650          Email receptionsh@mortimerhirst.co.nz
Takapuna         ph. 09 486195            Email receptiontkp@mortimerhirst.co.nz
 
We hope you and your family remain positive, safe and healthy. As always, we look forward to being of service to you.
 
Alex Bicheno
PARTNER

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31st August 2020: 

COVID-19 RE-OPENING UNDER LEVEL 2:

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Your Health & Safety is our Priority.

Dear Valued Customer.

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With the COVID-19 situation being as fluid and rapidly evolving as ever, Mortimer Hirst is well prepared for the move back into Level 2 and are pleased to inform you that we will be resuming all of our regular services.

 

This includes; routine eye health and vision consultations, contact lens fitting consultations, spectacle dispensing, repair and adjustment and everything eyecare and eyewear related in between. We would like to assure you that we have industry leading protocols for social distancing, hand hygiene, equipment sterilisation and PPE use in place to protect you and our staff.

 

It is time to once again move forward and re-embrace our new normal, adapting as the team at Mortimer Hirst has done since 1951.

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All of our practices will be open from 8.30 a.m. Monday 31st of August 2020.

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We would like to thank all our patients for their continued support through the second COVID-19 Alert Level 3 lockdown and from all of us at Mortimer Hirst, we look forward to being of service to you come Monday.

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11th August 2020: 

COVID-19 LEVEL 3 RE-ENTRY:

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Your Health & Safety is our Priority.

Optometrists are classed as an essential service provider in the delivery of 'emergency & acute' eye care during Alert level 3.

 

Dear Valued Customer,

 

Mortimer Hirst has been set up for re-entry into Alert Level 3 for some time, we are approved and registered as an essential service provider by the Ministry of Health and MBIE to deliver emergency and acute eyecare and eyewear.

 

As with the last time we entered Level 3, Mortimer Hirst will be able to provide virtual and physical consultations for triaging and treating eye conditions that require emergency or urgent care, new spectacles (if you have lost or broken your spectacles and these are required to carry out your usual daily functions), spectacle repairs, contact lenses, contact lens solutions, eye drops and prescriptions for medicated eye drops or oral medications. You can place orders by emailing us or give us a call and we can arrange your order.

 

All of our practices are open and will remain open at Level 3. Complimentary courier delivery or contactless pickup is available for any products that have already been ordered and for any orders placed while we are at Level 3. This includes any spectacles, contact lenses, contact solutions or eye drops. 

 

As of 12pm today, 12th of August 2020, we will be operating under Level 3 conditions and attending any of our practices will be by appointment only. After 12pm today, please do call ahead if you are going to be attending any of our practices to let us know to expect you. 

 

Mortimer Hirst is set-up to undertake virtual consultations for any concerns you may have about your eyes. Please do not hesitate to undertake a virtual consultation with one of our optometrists if you have any concerns, including; sore and red eyes, flashing lights or floaters or anything else that is of concern, we are here to help. Should it be deemed necessary for a physical examination to occur, we have all of the appropriate safety protocols in place.

 

If you have access to a webcam or mobile phone with video calling capabilities, then you can undertake the virtual consultation using this technology. You can book this type of consultation online at https://www.mortimerhirst.co.nz/contact or give us a call to arrange an appointment. If you do not have access to video calling technology, please give us a call at one of our practices and the virtual consultation can be undertaken on the phone.

 

If you are unsure about anything related to your eyes or eyewear, please do not hesitate to call any of our practice phone numbers as we are onsite, or send an email, we would be more than happy to provide advice and assistance.

 

The email addresses for each of our practices are:

High Street – reception@mortimerhirst.co.nz

Newmarket – receptionnmk@mortimerhirst.co.nz

Takapuna – receptiontkp@mortimerhirst.co.nz

St Heliers – receptionsh@mortimerhirst.co.nz

 

We hope you and your family remain positive, safe and healthy. As always, we look forward to being of service to you.

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23rd April 2020: Optometrists are classed as an essential service provider in the delivery of 'emergency & acute' eye care during Alert level 3.

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Dear valued clients,

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Further to our earlier communications regarding COVID-19, Mortimer Hirst is approved and registered as an essential service provider by the Ministry of Health and MBIE to deliver emergency and acute eye care during Alert Level 3. We have worked tirelessly, throughout the Level 4 lockdown to ensure we were available to you remotely for emergency spectacle repairs, contact lenses, solutions, eye drops, prescriptions and virtual triaging for emergency eye care.

We are now delighted to confirm that we will be opening our Newmarket and St Heliers practices (initially) on Tuesday 28th April 2020 to continue to be of service to you. This is still under the Level 3 conditions and will be by appointment only, as this care must be delivered in an environment where the strict COVID-19 protocols specified by the Ministry of Health can be observed.

 

Under Alert Level 3, we are able to provide the following listed services through our practices:

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• Emergency eye care for any condition that may result in vision loss or discomfort that impairs the ability to carry out usual life activities

• The repair and/or supply of prescription spectacles and contact lenses required to ensure that a person could carry out their usual life activities

• Provision of contact lens solutions, artificial tear eye drops and prescriptions for eye health related medications (eye drops and oral medications)

 

You and your family’s eye care and health are paramount to us. Although we have always worked to industry leading Health and Safety protocols and standards, we have taken extraordinary steps to ensure your safety through the COVID-19 pandemic. Some time ago we implemented some of the most stringent Health and Safety measures in our industry.

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Health and Safety Measures Implemented.

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Listed below is an overview of some the Health and Safety Protocols we have implemented:

 

• Visits to the practices are strictly by appointment only, please call us first.

• As we have conducted throughout Level 4, we will phone triage first. If necessary, this will be followed up with a virtual examination and if absolutely necessary an appointment will be arranged for you to visit one of our practices.

• Prior to your visit to one of our practices you will be screened over the phone with regards to overseas travel, contact with someone who has or has had Covid-19 etc.  

• Physical distancing, this includes controlled/restricted entry (one patient in the practice at a time – support persons are requested to please wait outside) and restricted staff numbers. With the exception of a consultation, 2 metre minimum physical distancing and in a controlled environment such as our workspace, at least 1 metre distancing.

• All visitors’ details will be logged, recorded and available to the Ministry of Health upon request for contact tracing if required.

• Stringent sanitizing; all visitors will be asked to use the hand sanitizer provided when arriving and departing.

• We have recently installed face shields on some of our close contact equipment and we will use Personal Protective Equipment such as gloves, masks, goggles, face shields, suits whenever is appropriate e.g. a staff member is to come within 2 metres of a client.

• Scheduled and documented cleaning and disinfection in addition to our cleaning regime of cleaning and disinfecting before and after each patient.

• All towels and soaps have been replaced with recyclable paper hand towels and antibacterial hand foam with dispensing units, at each sink.

• Information posters placed at each sink explaining the correct procedure on how to wash, clean and disinfect hands and about the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

• All air conditioning units have been serviced, cleaned and disinfected.

 

If you are unsure about anything related to your eyes or eyewear, please contact us and we would be more than happy to provide advice and assistance. 

 

As always, we look forward to being of service to you. ​​

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26th March 2020: Optometrists may assist in delivery of 'emergency & acute' eye care during lockdown.

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Dear valued clients,

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Further to our earlier communications regarding COVID-19, an update has been received from the Ministry of Health agreeing that Optometrists may assist in the delivery of 'emergency and acute' eye care during the lock down period. This applies to emergency and acute therapeutic care only, and does not extend to day-to-day routine examinations or the sale of products or devices. 

This care must be delivered in an environment where the strict COVID-19 protocols specified by the Government can be observed. You can be assured that we have the correct protocols in place.

 

Phone triage, will be undertaken first, followed by a virtual examination and if absolutely necessary a face to face consultation will be scheduled. Following the consultation (via phone and/or in person), if necessary, the Optometrist may consider collaborative care with ophthalmology. 

 

Face to Face emergency consultations will be undertaken at our Newmarket practice only, we have onsite parking and parking at the door.

 

If any further updates relevant to optometry become available, these will be communicated as soon as possible via direct email to our data base, web site and Facebook.

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If you need to contact Mortimer Hirst for urgent care please call any of our practice phone numbers which have all been diverted or send an email via our web site.

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24th March 2020: Preparing for Alert Level 4.

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Dear patients, optometry practices are not categorised as an essential service and therefore must close their doors by 11.59 pm Wednesday the 25th of March 2020 and remain closed until the government lock down is lifted.

 

Hence we are closing our practices from midday tomorrow Wednesday 25th March 2020 to ensure our staff have adequate time to get home and prepare.

 

We have implemented a number of strategies to be of continued service to you where possible as listed below:

 

• All deliveries have been redirected to our home address, so we can process and courier products i.e. contact lenses.

• We have some of our clinical team available to answer your questions or for advice.

• All phone numbers have been redirected to our home.

 

We will forward updates as or when required, updates will also be posted on our facebook page and on this page of the website.

 

To contact us please call any of the practices phone numbers or preferably please send an email through our web site.

 

We hope you and your family remain positive, safe and healthy.

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18th March 2020: Alert Level 2

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During these uncertain times, we thought it prudent to update you on our efforts to remain vigilant, to ease any concerns you may have and outline what we at Mortimer Hirst have implemented as the situation around novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to evolve.

You and your families eyecare and health are paramount to us, although we have always worked to industry leading Health and Safety protocols and standards we have taken extraordinary steps to ensure your safety. Some time ago we implemented some of the most stringent Health and Safety measures in our industry, these measures are comparable to those being implemented by retirement villages and rest homes. 
 
Mortimer Hirst has been extremely pro-active and have implemented the following Health and Safety measures to ensure both the safety of our valued clients and staff alike.

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Safety Measures Implemented.

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Listed below are just some of the Health and Safety measures we have implemented to date:

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• Scheduled and documented cleaning and disinfecting in addition to our cleaning regime of cleaning and disinfecting between each patient.
   

• All towels and soaps have been replaced with recyclable paper hand towels and antibacterial hand foam with dispensing units, at each sink.
   

• Information posters placed at each sink explaining the correct procedure on how to wash, clean and disinfect hands and about the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
   

• Hand sanitiser readily available for employees and clients.
   

• All air conditioning units have been serviced, cleaned and disinfected.
   

• We have implemented a new roster system to eliminate staff working at multiple sites to help mitigate any possible spread of the virus.
   

• All group staff meetings have been cancelled.
   

• All international suppliers and non-essential visitors have been cancelled, all purchasing and meetings are being held by video conference.
   

• We are sending all patients booked in for an appointment the following message, we will continue to make changes and update this as per the Ministry of Health’s advice:
   

  • Hi <<FirstName>>, Novel coronavirus alert - If you have returned from overseas in the last two weeks, been in close contact with someone who has, or feel unwell, please DO NOT make an appointment, but call us on 09 3798950.  Please refer to https://www.health.govt.nz for further information.
     

• There is no handshaking.
   

• Our team is continually reminded to wash and dry their hands regularly, covering coughs and sneezes and to stay home if feeling unwell.
   

Everything we have implemented will stay in place until further notice, we will continue to monitor and take advice from a number of organisations both nationally and internationally.