After-hours care row goes to court

A court battle looms following a dispute between the South Canterbury District Health Board and four rural general practices over funding for after-hours care.

The South Canterbury District Health Board and four GPs failed to resolve the problem of after-hours funding at a mediation late last year.

Temuka's GPs, along with Geraldine doctor Diana Scott, ended their alternated on-call and after-hours services in August last year after a health board review decided Temuka fell below the threshold for rural funding.

Geraldine doctor Kevin Moginie, of 4 Peak Health, has continued to provide after-hour services to his patients.

Health board chief executive Chris Fleming said the matter was now one for the courts.

"The fundamental issue to be resolved relates to compliance with the existing agreement between the South Canterbury District Health Board and South Link Health, and the back-to-back agreements South Link Health has with each of the GPs.

"As a consequence of this impasse the issue will be placed before the High Court for resolution as soon as possible."

The GPs are contracted to South Link Health.

Mr Fleming said an interim solution to benefit the people of Temuka and Geraldine was offered to the GPs until the matter was resolved in court.

The proposed solution would have seen the GPs providing primary care services from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week, with overnight services between 8pm and 8am covered by a telephone triage service and back-up care from the emergency department at Timaru Hospital.

"In return for providing this interim solution, the district health board offered to continue to pay the rural funding in full, as was in place prior to this dispute arising, until the dispute was formally resolved."

The GPs were given until January 23 to consider the offer. "This time frame has now expired, and as such the offer has not been accepted," Mr Fleming said.

GP spokesman Bryan Moore said the GPs went into the mediation with an open mind and were prepared to consider any "reasonable" solutions.

"The offer we received was associated with conditions that we believe were unreasonable, funding that was insufficient and had the potential for creating significant liability for providers in the future."

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