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Reduced hours of service for Kenepuru Accident & Medical Clinic
A shortage of available doctors has forced a reduction in the hours of service at the Accident & Medical Clinic at Kenepuru Community Hospital in Porirua.
The Accident & Medical Clinic (A&M) provides a similar range of health services to those provided at GP-run after-hours medical centres. However, unlike the majority of GP-run services, which close at 11pm , the Kenepuru A&M has until now been open 24 hours a day every day of the week.
However Capital & Coast DHB Chief Executive, Dr Derek Milne says maintaining an all-night service has become an impossibility.
“Until the staffing situation can be resolved the Kenepuru A&M will close each night from 11pm until 8am the following morning – starting on Monday 4 February,” Derek Milne says.
“These overnight hours are consistently the quietest time of day in terms of patient presentations at Kenepuru A&M. Between 11pm and 8am only around one patient has been presenting at the A&M each hour on an average night.
“It would not be safe for us to keep the A&M open overnight when we don’t have enough doctors available.
“Local GPs play an important role in assisting with the staffing of the clinic, and we greatly value that.
“However increased daytime patient numbers and reduced locum coverage have meant that more GPs have been required per session. As a result local GPs have recently had to reduce the number of sessions they cover at the A&M, in order to maintain reasonable after hours rosters. Despite strenuous efforts we have not been able to find doctors to make up the resulting shortfall.
“As a result we are now in a situation where we cannot reliably guarantee having a doctor available for every overnight shift.
“We believe it would be unsafe - and confusing - to have the Clinic open some nights and closed on others. So we have decided to reduce the hours of service for the A&M in a consistent manner.
“During the overnight hours we’re advising all patients who would otherwise have come to the A&M to either wait to see their GP the next morning, or if the situation can not wait, go to the Emergency Department at Wellington Hospital in Newtown .”
Dr Milne says patients who are unsure whether they should go to the Wellington Emergency Department or not should call Healthline – on 0800 611 116 – a free telephone service staffed by registered nurses.
“Healthline’s registered nurses can assess a person’s condition and health needs and recommend the best course of action and a time-frame in which to take action.
“We’re doing everything we can to address this problem, and are seeking a sustainable way forward. But there is no immediate fix, and reinstating the overnight service must be done on a truly sustainable basis.
“The safety of patients is always our first priority, and under the current circumstances reducing the hours of service is the right thing to do.
“It’s important that people are clear that between 8am and 11pm every day Kenepuru A&M will remain open, with its usual range of services available,” Derek Milne said.
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