A Hawke’s Bay woman says she was left feeling “very scared” after changes to Napier’s only 24/7 medical centre left her with no choice but to drive herself to the nearest hospital.
Haze Tawhara has been dealing with an ovarian cyst that can cause crippling pain.
Last weekend, Tawhara visited City Medical, only to discover it was closed.
“Generally, I try go to Wellesley, the Napier after-hours, just not to be another number in the hospital ED when I know I just need help with pain or dehydration,” she told 1News.
With her family out of town, she felt she had little choice but to drive herself to Hastings Hospital’s emergency department.
“I was very scared,” she said.
“I had to pull over a few times because I was in so much pain and I was worried that I was going to crash into something.
“It delayed me going in when I probably should have gone way sooner because by the time I got there, they had to put me to sleep because the pain was so bad.”
Over the past 12 months, the Napier health facility would see almost seven patients a night. Health NZ wouldn’t confirm what the future services will look like as consultation on the changes is ongoing, but they are currently providing a temporary night nurse to bridge the gap. It hopes to have a final decision on the exact changes by the end of the month.
‘Really dire’
A community meeting was held earlier this week to hear how the changes are already affecting locals.
It was run by Patient Voice Aotearoa’s Malcolm Mulholland, who is taking part in a nationwide road show looking at regional health care.
Mulholland called the situation “really dire”.
“We’re getting a lot of stories about people missing out on treatment, of having to wait hours upon hours in ED in some instances, people have travelled from one region to another in order to get urgent care,” he said.
local leaders say after Napier Hospital closed in 1998, commitments were made to maintain a 24-hour health facility for the town.
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise called the changes disappointing.
“It’s actually really sad to see that the commitments that were made have not been honoured,” she said.
Wise said they’ve seen “services gradually being reduced” over the last two decades.
“The level of outpatient clinics, the specialist clinics, that community interaction. We lost our maternity ward here and now we’re about to potentially lose our overnight urgent care services. So, it’s pretty frightening.
“People deserve better.”
Health Minister Simeon Brown said he’s listening.
“I share the concerns of the local people in Napier. I’ve asked Health New Zealand to have a look at alternative options to make sure that people can continue to receive the appropriate overnight in urgent care… so they can get the access they need in a timely and quality manner.”
A protest is planned next week.
