WellSouth to set up practice to ease strain

WELLSOUTH has gone into the general practice business in an attempt to help Invercargill residents find a doctor.

The primary health organisation (PHO) announced yesterday that it planned to open a GP practice in its own right, with the aim of alleviating chronic difficulties people in the southern city have registering with a new doctor.

The emergency department at Southland Hospital regularly comes under severe pressure with visits from people who might otherwise have been seen by their GP, a phenomenon which health officials believe has contributed to several instances of bed block in recent months.

The new service, intended for people not registered with a practice, will be based in WellSouth’s Clyde St offices.

‘‘We have to take action,’’ WellSouth chief executive Andrew SwansonDobbs said.

‘‘There is pressure on general practice teams and on the whole health system and we know we can do more to help.’’

WellSouth is not the first PHO to set up a GP clinic. There are others in Waikato, Manawatu and Nelson.

The costs of setting up a practice were believed to be one reason for the lack of GPs in Invercargill. WellSouth already had a building and administration staff available, Mr SwansonDobbs said.

The new clinic was viewed as a collaborative venture with local GPs rather than a competitive one, he said.

‘‘WellSouth is conscious of the need for existing services to remain viable as part of the whole primary care system, and this new development is intended to address gaps and not to compete for patients.’’

Despite a nationwide shortage of GPs, Mr SwansonDobbs was confident WellSouth could recruit clinicians to staff its new practice.

‘‘We are looking at recruiting for a number of roles — practice nurses, nurse practitioners and GPs — and we are confident we can fill the roles that we envisage for the practice.

‘‘We are under no illusions that workforce is a challenge and will be taking this into account as we grow.’’

A recent Southern District Health Board committee meeting was told by its chief executive Chris Fleming that Southland Hospital was under ‘‘tremendous pressure and stress’’ and urgent action was needed.

A 2019 report to the board said there were about 38,000 presentations to Southland Hospital emergency department from January 2018 to February 2019.

During the same period, Dunedin, with more than twice as many people, had just 5000 more emergency presentations.

The Invercargill GP practice with the highest number of registered patients going to emergency had 1100 more presentations than its Dunedin counterpart.

Mr SwansonDobbs said the new service would have to meet the same performance measures as other clinics.

‘‘We are committed to making its performance and funding transparent to other providers to demonstrate fairness and equity.’’