Town’s digital doctors in a double-up
A town which had no doctors at the end of last week now has two virtual clinics to choose from - although both are hundreds of kilometres away.
Patea’s last resident GP left several weeks ago, leaving the town of 1500 people with no doctor. Patients have had to travel to Hawera or Whanganui for medical care.
Yesterday the Patea and District Medical Trust announced it had teamed up with doctors from the Taupo Medical Centre to provide consultations via video conferencing from the Patea Medical Centre in Lincoln St.
The move comes only days after a new virtual medical clinic, Maihealth, was launched in the town in an independent partnership between the Ngati Ruanui iwi and Kaitaia’s Dr Lance O’Sullivan.
It offers a free clinic where patients’ details are sent over the internet to doctors for diagnosis.
The trust is still keen to recruit more doctors and has a GP couple arriving from the UK to work at the practice from early October until Christmas.
In the meantime the Taupobased doctors would have access to patients’ records and the support of nurses in Patea, trustee Brett Honeyfield said.
‘‘This is a particularly important part of our secure video conferencing service as we support a lot of complex, high-needs people. While the doctor isn’t here in Patea, they are fully informed of a person’s medical history which means they can make the best decisions about their care.’’
Patients would have real time conversations with the Taupobased doctors, said David Oldershaw, interim chief executive of the Pinnacle Midlands Health Network, which includes the Patea and District Medical Trust.
‘‘We wanted to simulate a regular appointment as much as possible and that meant setting up equipment in Taupo so the doctor can easily speak to the patient through one screen, while looking at the patient’s record and making notes on another.’’
He said their immediate concern was restoring service to Patea.
The IT team was developing ways of using technology to add touch and feel to the consultation to make it even more real.
‘‘For example, we’re looking at adding a portable heart rate monitor that shows the patient’s heartbeat for the doctor. We’re also thinking about how to include spirometry – a test used to diagnose asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other conditions that affect breathing.’’
Maihealth has set up a free clinic in the Patea Maori Club building where trained ‘digital health deputies’ interview patients and take vital checks.
Pinnacle Health communication leader Marie Simpson said there was no formal relationship between the two medical services in Patea, but she felt they would work nicely together to serve the community.
Ngati Ruanui kaiarataki Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the iwi had offered its help to the trust but it was declined.
The iwi was spending about $30,000 on the pilot of Maihealth. In Maihealth’s first 12 hours around 60 patients, both Maori and nonMaori, had been seen, and another 40 people had called in.
Following on from criminal allegations of fraud, members of a beleaguered Taranaki hapu will appear before the Maori Land Court next month. The August 10 hearing, to be held at the New Plymouth offices of Parininihi ki Waitotara, has been set down for members of the Ngati Te Whiti Whenua Topu Trust. Last month, Shaun Joseph Keenan was arrested and charged with theft by a person in a special relationship following allegations that hundreds of thousands of dollars went missing from hapu coffers. Keenan was the former chief executive officer of the Ngati Te Whiti Whenua Topu Trust and project manager for the hapu’s now scrapped plan to build a $4.5 million marae. Ngati Te Whiti member Peter Capper, who intends to make a statement at the Maori Land Court hearing, said he was focused on getting to the bottom of what happened within the hapu and also finding a way to ensure its dream of building a marae remained a reality. Keenan, who has yet to plead to the charge, is due to reappear in the New Plymouth District Court on August 2.