A&E clinic could lead to 24-hour centre
Urgent Care Franklin (UCF) could be the first step toward opening a 24-hour emergency medical facility in Pukekohe.
Dr Creasan Reddy is one of the doctors at the helm of the new accident and emergency clinic on Manukau Rd which will open from July 1.
Reddy said the reason there’s a need for urgent care medical services in Franklin was because around 50 per cent of residents in the area were not registered with a local GP.
UCF would not be enrolling patients and would provide a walk-in service open between 8am-8pm, seven days a week.
As Franklin’s population increased, health care needed to improve, Reddy said.
‘‘We’re wanting the health care to evolve dynamically as well.’’
The long-term goal, Reddy said, was to build a special purposed-built accident and emergency facility in Pukekohe.
‘‘We’re wanting to be focused more on almost becoming a 24-hour emergency department rather than just a accidental and medical clinic.’’
Reddy said UCF had already attracted offers from urgent care specialist to work at the clinic.
‘‘We’ve come up with quite a lot of people who would like to work in Pukekohe who are actually emergency medicine trained.’’
Reddy has a background in emergency medicine having practised it in South Africa and while working for the White Cross Group in Auckland.
Last month, Pukekohe Family Health Care announced it would close its accident and medical clinic from July 1, after operat- ing for more than 20 years. It is currently Pukekohe’s only operating A&M clinic.
Difficulty in recruiting doctors to the A&M clinic was cited as one of the main reasons for the its closure.
Reddy said it made sense to expand medical services in Franklin after the clinic’s closure.
‘‘A lot of our patients that go from here to Middlemore Hospital for example could be managed in the community if we had the resources.
‘‘It’s something we’ve always dreamed of doing, it’s just that the timing is right now.’’
Middlemore’s emergency department was already at capacity, Reddy said.
‘‘We’re having problems getting up the road, it’s not just up the road anymore - it’s two hours before you get to Middlemore these days with traffic.’’
The clinic would be privately funded for the moment, Reddy said, and a collaboration with Counties Manukau District Health Board could be on the horizon to help establish an emergency 24-hour facility in Pukekohe.