Ireland said it was as difficult as it sounded, replying: “We are consistently asking and looking and trying to find GPs.
“The added complexity of being in a rural setting compounds that.
“It is definitely easier to attract GPs to urban areas, no ifs, buts, maybes about that.”
Ireland said in terms of requirements from the Medical Council to get GPs from overseas, it “is a real pain in the neck” and an extremely difficult process.
“For the last 20 years or more, we’ve known this problem is going to happen and successive governments have not taken that on board. So now we’re in this perfect storm of masses amounts of GPs who have reached retirement age and have left the sector, along with increased demand and has just left us in this place.”
It was a packed room at the Tararua District Council offices in Pahīatua last week for the first of three public meetings – one was held in Dannevirke and the third would be in Woodville on August 8.
Ireland said the health system across the board was under “massive pressure”.
“From our perspective, I guess that pressure is the highest in the primary care sector,” he said.
There were reduced numbers of general practitioners across the sector.
“While that’s true across the country, it’s even more prevalent within the rural sector as well.”
The shortage of GPs impacted waiting times for appointments, which was frustrating for patients and put more pressure on staff.
Another pressure was staff being subjected to abuse on a regular basis, which impacted them.
Ireland said it was predominantly verbal.
“It is not acceptable from our point of view.”
Some patients were also not turning up to appointments - at Pahīatua Medical Centre in June, they had 87 occasions where people did not turn up.
“What that means is that 87 other people don’t get in to see the GP or Nurse Practitioner.”
One person at the meeting noted that he had to wait weeks for an appointment and asked why he couldn’t be called in sooner if someone hadn’t turned up to their appointment as he lived close to the medical centre.
It was explained that often those who didn’t turn up didn’t tell staff they weren’t coming. They would allow five minutes, but after 10 minutes they couldn’t offer the appointment to anyone else.
It was noted that it would help if a patient who was unable to come to an appointment could contact staff and let them know up to an hour beforehand.
“We understand that life happens and we’re quite willing to negotiate and work with you around that as well,” Ireland said.
Staff also explained their roles during the meeting, and how they could help patients who couldn’t get in to see a doctor such as those staff who had the training to be able to diagnose common conditions and those who were able to see patients with long-term conditions.
Others including Pahīatua Pharmacy, St John’s health shuttle and iwi providers also explained what they could do to help.
Ireland said Pahīatua Medical Centre would also be undergoing renovations from October 14, which would mean a change in service and how much the centre could deliver, and extra services would be moved to Woodville.
The renovations were likely to take up to three months.
Several of those present asked questions around how to get in to see a staff, especially for urgent appointments, or for chronic conditions.
It was noted that there were some living in the district who were still not able to register and Ireland said they were running on a “one in, one out” system.
Leanne Warr has been editor of the Bush Telegraph since May 2023 and a journalist since 1996. She re-joined NZME in June 2021.
