Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Malcolm Mulholland: Patient Voice Aotearoa Chair on the lack of robust urgent care services in Napier

Transcript

Malcolm Mulholland: Patient Voice Aotearoa Chair on the lack of robust urgent care services in Napier · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Protests over a lack of after ours medical care in
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Napier will go ahead despite an agreement yesterday to enhance
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the service. Napier currently has no doctor after APM, meaning
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the closest medical care overnight is a twenty five minute
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: drive to Hastings. Yesterday, Health Minister Simon Brown announced an
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: increase in the overnight urgent care service in the area,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: including access to nurse prescribers and medical support via Tallyhealth.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Patient Voice says it's not good enough and the planned
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: protest will be going forward. Chair and protest organizer Malcolm
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: mul Holland is worth me now. Good morning, Malcolm, good morning.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: What did you make of the health minister's announcement yesterday?
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: Ah, I found it underwhelming. I don't think it as
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: a service that meets in the Napier community, and it
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: certainly doesn't seem to be a service that, if you like,
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: you know, is something that was promised to the community
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: when the hospital shove its stores back in nineteen ninety eight.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: What do the people of Napier need?
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: I think in particular they want access to a GP
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: between those out of eight at nine to eight in
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: the morning. You know, that's been one of the ladin vehicles.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: They would much rather see a GP in the flesh
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: if they are needing urgent care, and right now that's
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: not a service that's on the table.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: So what would have you liked to have seen from
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: the Health Minister yesterday, a GP as opposed to a
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: nurse practitioner and a nurse put made available.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, absolutely there are gpp there in the flesh
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: because there are some issues around a nurse who is
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: a prescriber. So my understanding is that they can only
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: prescribe medication for common or for long term conditions. And
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: I would assume that many people who present to napier
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: for urgent care wouldn't be in the bracket as well
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: as the need. So some doctors are quite reluctant to
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: say via telehealth, this patient is in need of this
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: medication without actually seeing them in the flesh. So understanding
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: is depending on who the GP is at the under
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: end of the line will determine whether or not a
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: patient will actually receive the medication that they need.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: You got anywhere that you can pick up a prescription after.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: Ours a very good question. I don't believe that there is,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: and I think that that is one of the services
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: that the minister has indicated he would like, you know,
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: there to be more work done and for that to
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: potentially happen at the Naper Health Center, but right now
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: there doesn't seem to be something that people who go
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: there can excess right now.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: So where did the government It sounds like a series
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: of governments here go wrong with this new plan for Napier.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: Well, I think they haven't appreciated. I guess that Napier
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: is first for a city of sixty seven thousand people
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: and that whilst there might be ed services available in Hastings,
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: which as a twenty five minute drive, the people of
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: Napier do deserve, you know, a robust after our place
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: with eighteen go to be seen for urgent care, and
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: that was something that was promised to them. So Napier
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: citizens do feel like they've been let down and that
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: the government have not come through with their end of
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: the deal.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: I mean, Malcolm, there's probably a lot of places around
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: the country where we're having to drive twenty five minutes
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: to get to after our care. I mean, there will
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: be parts of Auckland where you know you'd be driving
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: at least that to reach care. Is it the issue
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: to drive or is the issue to fact that you know,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: once again, we don't want to be overloading our ed
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: departments such as the one at hays Thing's Hospital with
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: cases of dat.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Well, that's right, it is absolutely that, because right now
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: they will tell you that it's very hard to be
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: seen hasting ZD. Hasting ZD more times than not is
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: absolutely full to the brim of not flowing out the door.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: So there is the issue. But you've also got people
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: who I think quite rightfully who live in our city.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: You should be able to be seen for urgent care,
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: not in an emergency situation, but for urgent care. And
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: keep in mind too that after cyclone Gabriel the city
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: was actually cut off and so people were able to
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: commute from Nature to Hastings and that's a big concent
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: amongst the community, Malcolm.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: Is a lack of after ours medical service is an
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: issue in other areas of the country.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, No, most definitely, And it seems to be that
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: the preferred option is to go towards a telehealth model.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: So I'm thinking for example, on the West Coast and
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: Buller where I come from, they've shut down thereafter our clinics.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: They were about four or five method amongst the West
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: Coast there, and there was a real concern amongst some
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: via that Sellyhealths is not the solution for all. You've
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: got a predominantly older population, but you've also got pockets
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: for community that don't have interity or even self ane
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: access for that matter. So you know, often a lot
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: of communities are very anxious about in my time of need,
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: m I going to be able to get access to
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: in this case emergency services, not just urgent gear.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: Malcolm, thank you so much for your time this morning.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: That was Malcolm mule Holland there the chair and protest
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: for more.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: From earlier edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live to News
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Talks it'd be from five am weekdays, or follow the
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: podcast on iHeartRadio