'A serious concern': Local leaders say Raetihi's main GP has resigned

Local Ruapehu leaders say Raetihi's main full-time GP has resigned in recent weeks. Photo / NZME

Raetihi's full-time GP has resigned, according to leaders in the area, and it is not clear how locals will be able to get medical services in the town.

The Whanganui Regional Health Network, which oversees the Raetihi practice, would not confirm the resignation.

WRHN chief executive Judith McDonald has declined requests for comment about how the network will continue to offer GP services to the town.

The Ruapehu town also has one of the lowest vaccination uptakes in the Whanganui DHB area and the country.

The GP, whom the Chronicle has chosen not to name, resigned in recent weeks, according to Ruapehu Mayor Don Cameron.

Cameron said the doctor is one of the few medical professionals in the town, and services the majority of the Raetihi population.

John Chapman, an elected Waiouru/Waimarino Community Board Member who lives in Raetihi, also said the GP had resigned.

"It's very common knowledge among the town - it's no secret that [the GP] is gone."

Graham Dyer, the Whanganui DHB's acting-chief executive, also would not comment.

"I know there were conversations going on, but it is really a thing for the Whanganui Regional Health Network."

Rangitīkei MP Ian McKelvie, whose electorate covers the Ruapehu District, said he had also heard of the resignation.

McKelvie said the town of around 1,000 residents has had issues in the past when it came to attracting a GP.

"It certainly is a very serious concern for them, and I know in the past the Whanganui DHB have had to send people up from Whanganui on a daily basis to serve that community," McKelvie said.

"It's very important for them to have a doctor there, and it's also so isolated being so far away from other centres."

Concerns for town's vax rate

According to the latest vaccination figures broken down by suburb, Raetihi has some of the lowest vaccination uptake in the country, with less than half of the town fully vaccinated.

Only 48.5 per cent of the population is fully protected in Raetihi, while 11km up the road in Ohakune that figure is at 71 per cent.

John Chapman said the town is also home to a significant anti-vaccination sentiment.

Raetihi-based Waiouru/Waimarino Community Board Member John Chapman says the loss of the town's GP is a real concern amongst the community. Photo / NZME

"There is a very serious anti-vax movement in the town. I don't think you're going to change it, it is what it is.

"There has been an anti-vax movement in Raetihi for many years, so it's no surprise that the Covid vaccination has had a reluctant take-up. It's misinformation that people get, the usual Facebook thing."

Don Cameron said the biggest difficulty in the wider Ruapehu district had been the isolation of a number of rural residents.

"When they come to town, to be honest, they're not reading the paper. They get their groceries, get their farm supplies then move away. It's those people who are now being targeted."