Leaked documents show West Coast Health has proposed closing weekend urgent primary care and after-hours services and using a telehealth service instead.
The proposal — marked as confidential and for Te Whatu Ora staff only — stated high workloads and recruitment issues in the region had put pressure on primary care practices and their staff.
It said clinicians could no longer sustain working weekends or after hours after working full-time shifts.
The document proposed West Coast practices adopted a telehealth service provide by Ka Ora Telecare National Rural Telehealth Service.
"This would increase capacity in the after-hours system and improve access by replacing short weekend clinics with 24/7 care on weekends, weeknights and public holidays," it read.
Consultations with a nurse would be free but patients aged 14 and older being referred to a GP would be charged up to $50.
Patient advocate Anita Halsall-Quinlan said the proposal was "unacceptable".
"It's not addressing the equity issues that we already have here. We've got vulnerable communities, an ageing population, a low socio-economic status and a really difficult geographic area that is to be covered.
"There is a lot of pressure going to be put on our existing services and potentially on our staff through the weekdays because people are going to choose not to go because they would rather have a face-to-face."
She said the region felt "disregarded" and that the needs of the community were "just not being met".
"We're just being lumped into a solution that may work for management or the system, but it certainly is not going to work for the people."
Patient: 'This stinks... they don't give a damn'
Resident George Mulholland, 84, has had to travel to the capital to have his skin cancer treated privately due to an 18-month waiting list for treatment.
"You haven't virtually got any healthcare down there now, it's getting worse. Unless you have a computer, and we're in a bad area where I live, the cellphone doesn't work.
"The system stinks as far as I am concerned, you're only a number, that is all you are. They don't give a damn."
Options are available — West Coast Health
West Coast Health chief executive Caro Findlay said the proposal was to change the way the public accessed primary health care services after hours.
Currently, residents could attend a walk-in clinic in either Reefton, Westport or Greymouth that was open for two-to-three hours on the weekends.
For the rest of the West Coast, a phone triage system is already in place.
"What we're proposing to do is to standardise the service and improve it a little bit so that everyone uses a phone or internet to connect first. Instead of just a nurse triage, they'l actually talk to a nurse or a doctor and that doctor will hopefully be able to resolve their complaint before they see an in-person clinician."
Findlay said officials were having to examine how the service was run and "pull back" to make sure clinics do not have to close their doors.
She said she understood face-to-face treatment iwas the "ideal for care" in New Zealand.
"I guess what we're saying in this situation is, we no longer have the resources to be able to meet that preference and that level of service."
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