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Waiheke residents with health issues, including some with chronic conditions, say they are living in fear of what could happen without after-hours care on the island.
Health New Zealand officials are due to visit the island on Wednesday to talk to providers about the future of after-hours care on the island, and the Waiheke Medical Centre, owned by the Piritahi Hauora Trust, said it would be launching a new service.
The centre has opened over the past few weekends to help people during this transition, but until a clear plan is in place, there will be no doctor after 5pm on weekdays or on weekends.
Long-time resident Lisa Thomas, who has Crohn’s disease and is anaphylactic, said she relied on the after-hours services.
Following a surgery she had for Crohn’s disease, Thomas had many unpredicted infections and said she needed “a lot of support” and would be going to the doctors at all hours.
Lisa Thomas, who has Crohn's disease and is anaphylactic, says she relies a lot on the after-hours services. Photo / Lucy Xia, RNZ
Thomas has also had several close calls after being stung by bees or wasps in the past, where she has either needed urgent care or monitoring after using an EpiPen.
She fears that ambulance services will be stretched when they become the only in-person medical service on call.
“For my anaphylaxis, now I would call an ambulance because it’s so time precious but if the ambulance service is looking after everyone else, the chances of them getting to me within five minutes are really small.
“The anaphylaxis is really time critical, I need people right there and that’s a bit scary,” she said.
She said the health services on Waiheke were inadequate, and that it was unfair that people who had chronic conditions or needed cancer treatment would need to potentially consider moving off the island.
“It’s so crap what’s provided for 9000 people, so it would be really good if they can look at what the problems are rather than the money,” she said.
A paramedic on Waiheke told RNZ there was one paramedic and one emergency medical technician based on the island, just enough to operate one ambulance.
St John Ambulance said it had eight ambulance staff for Waiheke but would not say how many of them lived on the island.
Seventy-five-year-old Ian Bode is waiting for heart surgery, and is concerned about spending his post-surgery recovery on Waiheke if it doesn't have an after-hours urgent care. Photo / Lucy Xia, RNZ
Seventy-five-year-old Ian Bode is also among those nervous about what the cut in service could mean for his safety.
He is waiting for a heart valve surgery and feels unsafe about recuperating on the island.
“The fact that I will come back to Waiheke post operation - if there’s a lack of support on the island, that would concern me … you wanna know you got access to appropriate medical care if that’s necessary,” he said.
Young mum: ‘If this continues, we won’t have another child here’
Gracie Messner, who has a 1-year-old son, says she has been planning for another child but that won't happen if the island continues without an after-hours service. Photo / Lucy Xia, RNZ
Gracie Messner, who has a 1-year-old son, questions how far telehealth can go to help them in emergencies, and is also concerned about the availability of ambulances.
“They can’t physically help you on the phone, it’s more just knowing somebody would’ve been here beforehand, that we could’ve gone to anyone at any time and said: ‘Hey doctor, come check out our baby’.
“But now you have to wait for an ambulance, potentially for an hour if they’ve got other people on, maybe even more if there’s more severe emergencies,” she said.
Messner said young mums and pregnant women on the island were anxious about the situation, particularly people with high-risk pregnancies.
She and her partner were planning for another child, but Messner said she no longer felt safe to do that on Waiheke without its after-hours service.
“If this continues, we won’t have another child here,” she said.
The Oranga After Hours clinic's signage being removed. Photo / Lucy Xia, RNZ
Concerns for costs
Others are worried about the cost of having to rely on ambulance call-outs.
Zoe Armstrong, 22, who works in retail, said people on basic wages and pensioners may struggle to afford it.
“It’s $150 to a call-out to your house, which is quite ridiculous, if you’re suffering a medical emergency and the doctors are open, not everyone can afford that $150 for their medical attention,” she said.
A message sent by the Waiheke Medical Centre to patients showed that telephone consults through the Ka Ora helpline cost $79 for adults on weekdays, 5-10pm, and $99 from 10pm to 8am.
Meanwhile, it remains unclear why the Oranga After Hours clinic, owned jointly by the Piritahi Hauora Trust and the Waiheke Medical Trust, had to close.
Health New Zealand said it had renewed the funding for the current financial year, and had increased the funding by 2.5 per cent.
The Waiheke Medical Centre, owned by the Piritahi Hauora Trust, said it would launch a new service, but would not comment on what happened with the funding previously committed by HNZ to the now closed Oranga After Hours clinic.
It earlier said Oranga After Hours Ltd had become insolvent.
The Waiheke Health Trust said it had not been operationally involved in the after-hours service for three years.
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