Levin doctors face shortages and unsustainable rosters

There is an urgent need to address the shortage of doctors in Horowhenua, a committee has heard.

Alarm bells have been ringing around the Horowhenua Health Centre inpatient ward for months, amid a review and difficulties in recruiting staff.

The 20-bed Star 4 ward provides specialist treatment, rehabilitation, palliative care and medical services to people aged 65 and over.

A shortage of medical staff, limited support for elderly people and challenges in accessing healthcare were some problems in the area, a review found.

The ward is manned 24/7, and originally had three doctors covering 2.3 fulltime-equivalent positions, until one of them left and a part-time position was unable to be filled.

The after-hours roster was unsustainable, a report to a Midcentral District Health Board committee said.

It raised concern about a nationwide shortage of doctors, with few young doctors and no interns coming to the district.

Chairwoman Diane Anderson said the situation in Horowhenua could not be ignored, at a quality and excellence committee meeting on Tuesday.

The committee considered a report that looked at the ward’s model of care and requested feedback on two preferred options for hospital services in the area.

One of these would expand services already available for elderly people. It would increase capacity, move specialist services into the community and could accommodate trainee doctors.

The other option would expand services, and possibly include acute assessment services.

Details on exactly what services would be expanded were not yet available. The final decision on the project will be made in November.

Anderson said the future possibilities for Horowhenua could be quite exciting.

‘‘I think really the crux of it is just providing services close to home down there and making them feel safe and comfortable with those.’’

Maggie Oulaghan said a working group had been formed, and on-call staff rosters would change.