Tairāwhiti restores weekend urgent care with new GP service
Brown said improving access to doctors and nurses was a key priority for this Government.
'We're taking action to make sure the people of Tairāwhiti can get the care they need – when and where they need it,' he said.
'Urgent care and after-hours services are vital for people with non-life-threatening conditions who still need prompt medical attention but cannot wait until the next day to be seen.
'This new service will both restore and expand access to urgent care on weekends and public holidays in the region, with weekday after-hours services to be added as workforce capacity allows.'
He said this service was also about easing pressure on Gisborne Hospital's emergency department during weekends and public holidays.
'It allows emergency teams to focus on life-threatening conditions, while people with less urgent needs can get timely care in the community.'
Brown said Gisborne Hospital had a relatively high number of presentations that were triaged as lower-acuity categories – four and five – compared to other hospitals across the country.
'Many of these patients will be better served through this new community-based urgent care option.
'I'm pleased that Health New Zealand, in partnership with the Te Rōpū Matua collective through Ngāti Porou Oranga, is able to provide the people of Tairāwhiti certainty and reassurance that after-hours care will be available now and into the future.
'This is all part of the Government's plan to ensure New Zealanders can access timely, quality healthcare.'
The chair of Te Rōpū Matua Rina Kerekere said it was really excited to have the new service announced.
'We have really been dedicated to creating long-term and sustainable healthcare solutions for all our whānau and community, for everyone in Tairāwhiti,' Kerekere said.
'Our approach prioritises whānau-centre[d] care, ensuring healthcare is accessible, equitable and easily aligned with needs of all our people.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
3 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Russian adoptee's PTSD claim denied by ACC over residency rules
A Russian child who was adopted by New Zealanders and suffered physical abuse in his home country has had his claim for PTSD as an adult declined. Despite a High Court and District Court ruling the man was eligible for mental health cover, the Court of Appeal overturned their rulings,
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Staff 'responded immediately' to patient escape
By Sam Sherwood of RNZ Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey has reiterated to Health New Zealand that patient and public safety are of "paramount importance", after a man absconded from a mental health facility. Canterbury police released a statement about 9pm on Thursday appealing for information about the 35-year-old who had absconded from the care of another agency. Police had been notified about 6pm that the man was missing. They said he was dangerous and shouldn't be approached. The man was found about 10pm. RNZ understands the man absconded from Hillmorton Hospital. He was found about 6km away from the mental health facility. Health New Zealand has been approached for comment. A spokesperson for Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey told RNZ his office was advised on Thursday night about a patient leaving Hillmorton. "The Minister was advised by Health New Zealand that safety of the individual and community was at the forefront in how they responded with police." HNZ staff "responded immediately" and worked with Police to safely locate the person and return them to Hillmorton last night. "Health New Zealand is taking the incident seriously and there will be a rapid review and will take appropriate action as required. "The Minister reiterated to HNZ that patient and public safety are of paramount importance, and Health New Zealand have assured the Minister that they are taking all the necessary steps to ensure both." The incident comes three years after Hillmorton forensic mental health patient Zakariye Mohamed Hussein murdered Laisa Waka Tunidau as she walked home from work. Hussein was on community leave at the time of the killing. Two reviews were ordered, one into Hussein's care, and another looking at Canterbury District Mental Health Services. In June another Hillmorton mental health patient, Elliot Cameron was sentenced in the High Court at Christchurch to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 10 years for murdering 83-year-old Frances Anne Phelps, known as Faye in October last year. Following his sentencing a suppression order was lifted allowing RNZ to report Cameron killed his brother Jeffrey Cameron in 1975. A jury found him not guilty of murder by reason of insanity and he was detained as a special patient. Cameron was made a voluntary patient at Hillmorton Hospital in 2016, and then in October last year murdered Phelps, striking her with an axe. RNZ exclusively obtained emails from Cameron to his cousin Alan Cameron sent over more than a decade, detailing his concerns that he might kill again. In response to the revelations, Chief Victims Advisor Ruth Money said it was hard to see Phelps' death as "anything other than preventable". RNZ earlier revealed another case involving a man who was made a special patient under the Mental Health Act after his first killing was recently found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity for a second time, after killing someone he believed was possessed. After that article, Money called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into forensic mental health facilities. After Cameron's first killing was revealed, Money said she stood by her recommendation. "The public deserves an inquiry that can give actionable expert recommendations, as opposed to multiple coroners' inquests and recommendations that do not have the same binding influence. The patients themselves, and the public will be best served by an independent inquiry, not another internal review that changes nothing."
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Shuffles continue at top of hospital project
A fast-rising bureaucrat brought in to helm the government's reset of the new Dunedin hospital project has been dumped from the inpatient build, the Otago Daily Times understands. Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) head of infrastructure delivery Blake Lepper had fronted the $1.88 billion Dunedin hospital project for HNZ, including standing alongside ministers at press briefings and being described as ''senior responsible officer''. Mr Lepper arrived at HNZ last March from a management role at the Infrastructure Commission, but after repeated questions to HNZ from the Otago Daily Times about whether Mr Lepper was still senior responsible officer for the inpatient build, the agency admitted he is not. Tony Lloyd, who was removed as the build's programme director in November, has been confirmed as project director for the build. HNZ said Mr Lepper, who has a law and physics degree from the University of Otago, retained responsibilities for completion of Dunedin's outpatient building, and workforce and data and digital work streams, as well as other infrastructure projects. The period of Mr Lepper's leadership of the inpatient build was fraught. After piles were driven, no contract was awarded to build the inpatients building and ministers claimed a project blowout, and sought a reset. Meanwhile, sources moaned about HNZ leadership prevarication causing delays. The option of refurbishing the existing ward block, rather than constructing a new inpatient building, had been previously considered and ditched, but was reconsidered under Mr Lepper and dismissed again. Mr Lepper's departure from the inpatient building comes hot on the heels of other senior personnel changes and announcements relating to how the project is staffed, delivered and governed. Last month, corporate boss Evan Davies — group chief executive of gas and property company Todd and member of a new HNZ health infrastructure committee — was appointed as crown manager of the inpatient building project by Health Minister Simeon Brown. When announcing the appointment, Mr Brown said HNZ had ''struggled to maintain momentum on the project and identify a path forward''. Mr Brown, who had spoken in January alongside Mr Lepper at a press conference announcing the inpatient build would go ahead, has repeatedly stressed that Mr Davies now has authority to make appointments to run the project. In the press conference, Mr Brown said the focus was ''cracking on'' with the build. Mr Lepper's messaging in the conference was less clear. He said HNZ was committed to leading the project, but was also ''looking across government to get the support we need to make sure we can move''. He was ''really grateful'' for support that was being provided by Crown Infrastructure Delivery (CID), a crown agency tasked with helping government departments manage infrastructure builds. Subsequent to Mr Davies becoming crown manager, HNZ sent Australian construction giant CPB a ''letter of intent'' to hire the firm to deliver the inpatient building. CID, which has no hospital-building experience, will not be project managing CPB's work. A question mark also hovers over the future and role of the project's governance committee, the Project Steering Group (PSG), which is meant to oversee the build. Rebecca Wark, the former head of health construction for New South Wales, was the most recent independent chairwoman of the PSG, but HNZ said her contract ended last month and it was ''currently reviewing the structure of the group''.
