Kathryn George
GPs, clinics, paramedics and emergency departments across Aotearoa are stretched.
One Hamilton urgent care clinic is seeing up to 60 extra patients a day, another has seen more than double the number of patients compared to this time last year, while a third’s manager is doing shifts to fill in.
Clinics in Kirikiriroa are joining colleagues around New Zealand in reporting very high demand for their services, with problems compounded by Covid-19, winter bugs and staff sickness.
At Anglesea Clinic, staff sickness, extra demand due to respiratory illnesses and patients requiring medical certificates so employers could claim Covid-19 benefits, have added significant pressure, chief executive Julie Karam said.
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Demand for services had increased about 20% to 30% a day over the past few months.
Compared to the normal 200 to 220 clients seen daily, that meant an extra 40 to 60 people wanting help each day.
“There’s so much need out there,” Karam said.
GPs, clinics and the hospital’s emergency department were all stretched, she said.
Anglesea, Victoria and Tui clinics were liaising closely with Waikato DHB to try to help meet demand and Karam said there was a risk of staff burnout, with lots of “Covid fatigue”.
Annual leave balances had built up and her clinic was trying to prioritise leave for people wanting it, where possible.
“With staff shortages like this and increased demand there is a risk of missing someone, this is our fear,” Karam said.
“My doctors and nurses are working under tremendous pressure and carry that burden each day. They are the true heroes of this pandemic.”
Tom Lee/Stuff
Victoria Clinic manager Kristyn Mills says they’ve seen a 50% increase in patient numbers and she’s worried about staff burnout.
There was also a definite – and challenging – upsurge in demand at Victoria Clinic medical centre in recent months, manager Kristyn Mills said.
She’s even been pulling shifts to help cover when short-staffed.
Respiratory problems were the main driver for the increased demand at the clinic.
She said this had meant seeing 50% more patients a day over the last two to three months.
“We have put extra doctors on to cope with the demand, but that is not sustainable long term due to the workforce crisis in the health sector.
“We have been fortunate enough to be able to secure medical staff … but we are very worried about the risk of burnout.
“Definitely a massive increase over the last few months … it’s definitely challenging … it’s creeping up.”
Breakfast
From Friday, all 20 DHBs will be scrapped and two brand new entities will be at the helm of our health system.
The problems were compounded by staff sickness and the fact the hospital’s emergency department and other clinics in the city had been sending patients their way.
Mills said she was trying to increase staffing levels as “we’re definitely struggling”.
Tui Medical director Dr Navin Rajan said while staff were coping at the moment, his two urgent care clinics had seen substantial increases in numbers over the past few months.
In June 2021, his Rototuna clinic saw 2003 patients, but in June this year that number was 2754.
However, their Te Rapa clinic saw 3100 patients in June 2021 compared to 7100 this June. In May, they saw around 9000 patients.
“So it’s quite a substantial increase in the amount of work and it’s definitely having an impact on our ability to service our clients.”
Rajan said patient numbers had been on the increase since February, and they have had to rearrange rosters to make sure there were enough doctors available to meet urgent care requirements.
“We are definitely feeling the pressure, and we have had a flu go through our staff as well.
“July is always a tough month, but hopefully we’ll see some reductions by August.”
Rajan said some patients were telling them it could take two to three weeks to see their regular GPs.
