Rural patients at risk, report warns

The safety of rural patients is being compromised by patchy after-hours services, a reliance on locums and long waits to see a GP, a new health report warns.

The New Zealand Institute of Rural Health this month published a discussion document on the state of rural health.

It hopes the document will spark action from the Government.

The report describes the "fragile" state of rural health services, and says it is only a matter of time before there is a serious safety breach.

"Running services with reduced numbers of staff, high numbers of locums and under tight fiscal constraint increases the risk of clinical safety being compromised," the report said.

Rural health professionals who spoke to The Press acknowledged they were struggling against serious physical and financial barriers.

However, many said the barriers had forced communities to band together to provide good quality services, particularly for after-hours cover.

Associate Health Minister Damien O'Connor said the Government was aware of the issues and was working on solutions, such as devoting $5 million in the Budget to boosting rural after-hours service.

New Zealand Institute of Rural Health chief executive Robyn Steed said the rural health system seemed to be regarded as a second-rate citizen compared with urban areas.

Issues facing the rural health sector were well known but there was no plan in place to address them, she said.

Rural health professionals wanted the Government to acknowledge the serious problems facing the sector and come up with money and solutions to address them, Steed said.

There were areas of the country, such as Greymouth, where there were week-long delays in getting a GP appointment, where patients were suffering despite the best intentions of hard-working medical staff, she said.

"The matter of clinical safety in rural hospitals has generally run under the radar until an issue so significant (arises) that it cannot be ignored," Steed said.

The chairwoman of the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network, Kirsty Murrell-McMillan, said there were many areas where after-hours care was not always available or patients faced hours in the car to get to the nearest doctor or nurse.

One example was in Cheviot, North Canterbury, where there was not always a doctor or nurse available around the clock if people had a car crash or needed acute medical care, she said.

Hanmer Springs Health Centre spokeswoman Jo Bond said it had teamed up with staff at the Amuri Community Health Centre, in Culverden, to ensure there was always a nurse or doctor on call in the area.

Depending on which clinic was on duty, patients might have to drive half an hour to see a doctor or nurse, she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News