Tui Ora offers helping hands
Waitara will be without a GP from today and Tui Ora is stepping in to help.
From April 23, Taranaki Māori health organisation Tui Ora will have two GPS go to Waitara for one day a week each, Tui Ora clinical director Dr Bernard Leuthart said.
“So two days of GPS under Tui Ora Family Health.
“It’s very traumatic for a community to have the last of their doctors leave. And it’s hard for the nurses [at Waitara Health Centre] trying to carry the weight every day.”
So, Tui Ora is responding to a need, he said.
Tui Ora already has a clinic in Domett St, and the GPS will see patients there.
They would support families who don’t have doctors at all or who were wanting to enrol with Tui Ora from the Waitara Health Centre.
The Waitara Health Centre has about 5000 patients, he said.
“The going load for a GP is somewhere between 1500 and 1800 [patients].
‘’There’s pressure on that number to be less in New Zealand where there are 75 GPS per 100,000 patients.
‘’In Australia and Canada it’s more like 110/120 GPS per 100,000.”
And there would be some people in Waitara who don’t have a GP, he said.
“We’ll try and look at the demographic and see who we can offer assistance to first.
‘‘We know when we enrol patients that some will have an immediate need and
“At this time of need, we are making some room to provide additional support within our limited capacity.” Alana Ruakere Tui Ora chief executive
say ‘can I be seen today?’ In New Plymouth, any town in New Zealand, there are not enough appointments let alone acute appointments on the day.”
They will respond as best they can to those who need it most, he said. “There will be demand beyond what we can do.”
Tui Ora chief executive Alana Ruakere said they had known about some of the challenges at Waitara Health Centre for a while and they were in contact with its staff.
“We have a strong service presence in Waitara anyway and a lot of connections with that community.
‘‘So at this time of need, we are making some room to provide additional support within our limited capacity.”
The focus is to support the community, she said. “There are limits to the enrolments we can do.
There’s still going to be wait times – we’re not trying to say were coming with all the solutions.”
It’s important for people to be able to access services in their own area, she said.
“What we think we can bring is the model of care we have to be helpful.”
The Waitara Health Centre is one of dozens of general practices that belong to the Pinnacle Midlands Health Network.
Pinnacle chief executive Justin Butcher acknowledged the situation at Waitara was difficult for the community.
“Waitara is unfortunately yet another example of the national workforce crisis where communities are left without adequate primary health services,” he said.
“From Pinnacle’s perspective we’re working with the practice, community providers and Te Whatu Ora in the area to pull together a number of services so the community still has some access to primary healthcare.”