GP honoured, warns of health funding
Dr Glenys Weir, who was awarded a King's Service Medal on Monday, said she was worried about the government prioritising its funding to after-hours and telehealth care over much needed support and training of GPs.
Last month, in a pre-budget announcement, Minister of Health Simeon Brown committed $164 million in funding to urgent and after-hours healthcare in the regions.
The following week, Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora confirmed its plans for a new 24-7 virtual telehealth service, set to go live as early as this month.
"All the money's gone to after-hours [and] telehealth," Dr Weir said. "It's not a solution.
"We knew 10, 15 years ago that we were going to have this crisis in general practice, because it was a decade of not training enough."
She said general practice had changed incredibly and she and her colleagues at Gore Medical Centre were now seeing about 2000 patients per full-time GP.
These days, she said you would not see the same GP as much as you would in the past and therefore would not get the same continuity of care.
Only recently, she had seen a patient presenting with a foot problem who actually had an underlying heart issue as well as a range of other issues contributing to poor health.
She said she was able to give him an ECG, prescribe medications and address his other health concerns.
"If it was telehealth, they'd only be dealing with the foot," she said.
Dr Weir joined the medical centre in 1981 and was the first female doctor in the Gore District.
She said she was now treating the fifth generation of some families.
Knowing a patient well means as a practitioner can sense changes and pick up on underlying issues, she said.
"We're well-trained and just pick up so much more," she said.
She said to accommodate the increased workload, GPs were having to work harder, doing the more serious tasks while easier ones were being delegated to nurses, who had really stepped up.
The doctor received her royal honour this week for her services to health, and had volunteered her service to rural health days, offering free consultations for health screening and promotion.
She also had a little clinic in the Plunket rooms out in Waikaka, where she would see a lot of young mothers and do immunisations.
Now, she said rural patients were more inclined to travel into town to visit the centre, as they were coming and going more frequently.
Despite the increased workload, she was still encouraged by the calibre of GPs she saw coming through, particularly the group of young people that were committed locally.
Still working part-time at the centre, she said due to the quality of these young doctors, she felt comfortable retiring probably by the end of the year.
She accepted the award on behalf of her team, those who had come before her and those who were the future of the practice, because she could not have done this alone, she said.
"You just can't carry it on your own."
ella.scott-fleming@alliedpress.co.nz
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Health plan doubts
Anyone ploughing through the 85-page New Zealand Health Plan document might wonder if the wait was worth it. The lack of detail and some of the disconnection between it and planned amendments to existing health law, and other actions already taken or signalled by the government, are among the issues. There is also the thorny question of whether it can do what it says it will. According to Health Minister Simeon Brown, the plan, covering financial years from 2024 to 2027, outlines how Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora will deliver on the government's health priorities. But Auditor-general (AG) John Ryan, who, under existing law, must audit the costed plan before it goes to the minister, could not give it a green light. He was unable to form an opinion on whether the plan provided a reasonable basis for delivering publicly funded health services to achieve desired improvements in health or gave reasonable effect to the Government Policy Statement on Health. Mr Ryan said the plan did not provide a clear explanation of how the actions intended to improve aspects of the health system had been selected and prioritised, and how they would contribute to the achievement of the desired improvements and targets. Health New Zealand said the plan was indicative of the level of maturity of the organisation and not costed to the level of traceability and integration between the financials, activities and desired improvements from a fully mature plan. The government plans to do away with the requirement for the AG to audit the plan, and its delivery. This move is included in the wide-ranging Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill, submissions on which close today. Mr Brown says removing requirements for auditing the plan pre- and post-delivery aligns HNZ with other crown entities. The organisation would still have its annual financial statements and statement of performance audited by the AG. While we understand there might be concern such an audit before the plan becomes public may be time-consuming, it is hard not to see this removal of specific scrutiny of the plan altogether is more about avoiding criticism rather than ensuring greater transparency and accountability. It is not the only time recently the Auditor-general's office has been critical of health plans. We have already written of the AG's concerns about whether the government's push for more planned surgery to the private sector may result in patients with complex issues, not suited for such referral, waiting longer than they otherwise might have. As the office pointed out at the health select committee last week, faster care did not necessarily mean more equitable care. It is still not clear how HNZ plans to ensure its plans do not exacerbate inequity, which should include looking at unmet need. The health plan has some clangers in it which do not align with the current government position. In the section on improving timely access to primary and community care, it says "we are resolving pay equity claims and improving nursing recruitment and retention by ensuring there is consistency in nurses' pay". That would have been a surprise to those in the sector who still do not have pay parity with their colleagues in HNZ and whose pay equity claims were scuppered after the government's ambush law changes earlier this year. Public health advocates may have been buoyed by the statement "we aim to reduce the availability and social acceptance of alcohol" in the section on modifiable risk factors, along with reference to strengthening compliance and regulatory approaches in this area. However, recent RNZ reporting showed initial plans to reduce off-licence sale hours now appear to be off the table nationally, and there will be an emphasis on reducing red tape for alcohol retailers to make life easier for them. Hard on the heels of the release of the health plan came another damning report about the health post-code lottery, this time for the treatment of heart disease, the biggest single cause of death in New Zealand. It was another illustration of how much work the government has to do to convince the public it has a cohesive plan for an equitable health system.
Otago Daily Times
07-08-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Concerns raised over AI scribe tools for doctors
Major concerns have been raised about the security of private patient information in New Zealand after new research found 40% of the doctors surveyed are using AI scribes to take patient notes. Lead researcher and University of Otago (Wellington) primary healthcare and general practice bioethicist Professor Angela Ballantyne said AI was being rapidly taken up by primary care practices to transcribe patient notes during consultations, despite ongoing challenges with their legal and ethical oversight, data security, patient consent, and the impact on the doctor-patient relationship. "Most AI-scribes rely on international cloud-based platforms — often privately owned and controlled — for processing and storing data, which raises questions about where data is stored, who has access to it, and how it can be protected from cyber threats. "There are also Aotearoa-specific data governance issues that need to be recognised and resolved — particularly around Māori data sovereignty." Prof Ballantyne said 197 health providers working in primary care were surveyed in February and March 2024, providing a snapshot in time of the use of AI-scribes in clinical practice. Most of the respondents were GPs, but others included nurses, nurse practitioners, rural emergency care providers and practice managers. Of those surveyed, 40% reported using AI-scribes to take patient notes. Only 66% had read the terms and conditions on the use of the software, and 59% reported seeking patient consent, she said. Most of those surveyed who used AI scribes found them helpful, and 47% estimated it saved them between 30 minutes and two hours a day by using it in every consultation. However, "a significant minority" said the software did not save time overall because it took so long to edit and correct AI-generated notes, she said. "[Doctors] need to be vigilant about checking patient notes for accuracy. "However, as many survey respondents noted, carefully checking each AI-generated clinical note eats into, and sometimes negates any time savings." Many had concerns about the accuracy, completeness and conciseness of the patient notes produced by AI-scribes, and some were concerned about its inability to understand New Zealand accents or vocabulary and te reo Māori. Others using an AI scribe felt it enabled them to focus more on their patients and build better engagement and rapport through more eye contact and active listening. But there was concern among those surveyed about whether the use of an AI-scribe complied with New Zealand's ethical and legal frameworks. Prof Ballantyne said it could not be assumed that patients consented to their use. "Patients should be given the right to opt out of the use of AI and still access care, and adequate training and guidelines must be put in place for health providers." In July, the National Artificial Intelligence and Algorithm Expert Advisory Group at Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora endorsed two ambient AI scribe tools — Heidi Health and iMedX, for use by its clinicians in New Zealand. Prof Ballantyne said the Medical Council of New Zealand was expected to release guidance about the use of AI in health later this year, which was likely to require patients to give consent to the use of AI transcription tools. And there was still a need to track and evaluate the impact of AI tools on clinical practice and patient interactions, she said.
Otago Daily Times
20-07-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Lab should be open seven days: widower
A grieving widower is vowing to continue a campaign to improve access to the Dunedin cardiac cath lab after his wife's death. Sheralyn Weepers, a te reo Māori teacher at Bayfield High School, died in 2023 on the day she was due to fly to Sydney for a life-saving heart transplant. She was 48. Her husband, Sam, said her death came a year after she had to be resuscitated at Dunedin Hospital when she had a heart attack on a Monday morning. She had been in the hospital over the weekend with heart pain but had not been treated in the catheterisation laboratory (cath lab) because her condition was not considered acute enough to call someone in at the weekend. Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora has stood by its decision not to treat Mrs Weepers in the cath lab — where treatments such as the insertion of stents and pacemakers are done — that weekend. The Weepers family, who believe the damage to her heart caused during that incident might have been avoided had she been treated at the cath lab, is now working hard to try to prevent others from having to go through the same thing. They want Dunedin Hospital to have a fulltime operational lab, instead of being closed at the weekend to all but acute cases. Mr Weepers now stands outside Dunedin Hospital at the weekends, protesting the weekend closure of the cath lab to everyone not assessed as in need of urgent care. Just because it's a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, it shouldn't matter — it should be open for anyone who needs it," he said on a recent weekend. Before she passed away, she said to me ... she wanted to make some noise about what happened here," Mr Weepers said. I'm out here really, to make sure she's remembered." He has also started a petition urging the government to fund the Dunedin Hospital to run a fulltime operational cath lab. His wife was originally diagnosed with spontaneous coronary artery dissection (Scad) in March 2012, after going to Dunedin Hospital in the evening with heart attack symptoms, Mr Weepers said. She was transferred straight to the cath lab where she received an angiogram and preventive surgery. Ten years later, on May 13, 2022 — a Friday night — Mrs Weepers went to the Dunedin Hospital at 11pm where she was diagnosed with symptoms of a heart attack", he said. It was written in her file that Mrs Weepers had Scad, but it was decided the on-call cardiologist at the time would not be called in. ... she needed care, but they would not open the lab, because it was the weekend," Mr Weepers said. He recalled being told his wife would need to wait until Monday and that she was fourth on the priority list to be seen. She stayed in hospital but had a heart attack at 2am on Monday, Mr Weepers said. She was resuscitated, transferred to ICU and later had an angiogram and curative cardiac surgery. However, her heart suffered irreparable damage" and she was diagnosed with heart failure and had a significant reduction in heart function, Mr Weepers said. She was deemed too high risk and was declined cardiac surgery in New Zealand. In May 2023, the couple flew to Adelaide for cardiac surgery; however, when there, doctors advised her she needed a full heart transplant and the plan was changed to fly to Sydney for the surgery as soon as possible. On May 15, 2023, she was due to fly to Sydney. At 2am she had an unexpected suspected ventricular fibrillation and died despite resuscitation efforts, he said. Since her death, Mrs Weepers' family have started Āwhinatia — the Sheralyn Tipene-Weepers Charitable Trust, in order to change the healthcare experience for Māori and other under-represented communities through early intervention, health education, advocacy and systemic change. Health New Zealand southern group director of operations Craig Ashton said HNZ's ongoing thoughts were with Mrs Weepers' whānau and he acknowledged the distress and impact losing a loved one had. He said HNZ had completed a thorough internal review of the case and was satisfied with the assessment and treatment provided to Mrs Weepers. We have communicated extensively with the family." He said the cath lab at Dunedin Hospital was open 24/7, during weekends and after hours. All patients are clinically assessed and have access to the cath lab for any acute or clinically urgent situations," he said.
