Tararua’s health services improving

Improvements made to Tararua health services after the Manawatu¯ Gorge road closure may have ongoing benefits.

Longer commute times have put a strain on services, forcing the Midcentral District Health Board to examine operations and offer support for a shuttle.

Changes that are in place include an additional doctor within the Tararua Health Group who has been working in the district since October.

The Health Care Home model has also been adjusted so more Tararua residents can be seen by a general practitioner in the district rather than travelling to Palmerston North.

Midcentral DHB chief executive Kathryn Cook said many of the changes would be beneficial regardless of the gorge closure.

‘‘This should become the way we do business anyway.’’

Since State Highway 3 through the gorge closed in April, Tararua residents have had a longer commute to Palmerston North Hospital, and the health shuttle is often at capacity.

The service between Manawatu¯ and Tararua is costing more in fuel and and wear and tear from taking longer, windier routes.

The alternative routes, the Saddle Rd and Pahiatua Track, take between 20 and 40 minutes longer than SH3 through the gorge.

Drivers are working longer shifts due to increased travel times for the three shuttles that run five days a week between 6am and 5pm.

On average, more than 700 volunteer hours go into the service per month and volunteers pay for their own first aid training and uniforms.

Midcentral offered to support the shuttle service as demand increased with the gorge closure, but Don Stewart, who oversees the service, told Midcentral the service was sustainable for now.

However, Midcentral is still looking at ways to assist the service, including helping with the cost of first aid training.

At a Midcentral meeting this week, board member Adrian Broad said Midcentral needed to make sure there were viable longterm options as a new road could take up to seven years to complete. ‘‘It’s quite a long haul.’’ Board member Barbara Cameron said it was up to Midcentral to keep an eye on the volunteers as they experienced continued strain on the shuttle service.

Board member Oriana Paewai said people had learned to adapt since the gorge road closed seven months ago.

‘‘A lot have moved on. It’s now the new normal. You make the best with what you’re left with and that’s the Saddle Rd.’’

Paewai didn’t want Midcentral to take its ‘‘foot off the pedal‘‘, but she wanted Midcentral to acknowledge that people were adapting.

Midcentral is encouraging clinicians to book rural patients in the afternoon or late morning for travel convenience and they are also encouraged to avoid face-toface follow-ups when a phone consultation would suffice.