Health shuttle funded for one year

The Team Reporter from The Press

From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:

Funding to run the Buller health shuttle has been granted for one year.

The shuttle was provided by the Buller branch of the Red Cross from 2012, to transport people 100 kilometres from Westport to Greymouth for medical appointments.

It operated with support from Buller REAP, which co-ordinated patient requested bookings.

"The Red Cross are transitioning away from providing this and similar community transport that they have run throughout the country; the Buller service being the last in the process," a planning and funding update to the West Coast DHB advisory group said this week.

The Buller service was taken on by St John at the beginning of this month and is now known as the Kawatiri Health Shuttle.

"The service has been invaluable to those people who have faced transport issues over the years, and with St John now picking up service provision this is very much welcomed."

The Kawatiri service was funded for one year at this stage, based on Ministry of Health advice given to the board based on the transition to the new health system, DHB staffer Ben Hingston said.

They were "confident" the service would be sustainable beyond the transition period.

St John already operates a similar service in the Grey district and between Hokitika and Greymouth.

Board member Anita Halsall-Quinlan, of Westport, said it appeared the service was being run based on staff availability and asked if there were set days and times it would be available so it retained a broad reach into the community.

Hingston said St John would try to match accessibility to the shuttle with patient appointment times, "but there are no set times".

Board member Helen Gillespie noted it would be reliant on St John being able to co-ordinate volunteer drivers and Hingston said it would be up to that organisation to facilitate the availability of volunteer drivers.

The service would continue to operate at no cost to passengers.

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Meanwhile, increased funding has enabled the West Coast District Health Board to double capacity of the Poutini Waiora-led kaupapa Maori Well Child Tamariki Ora services.

A report to the board's advisory group this week said increased funding had meant it would be able to increase staffing from a 0.5 full time equivalent position to almost fulltime, from the beginning of next month.

"The increase in funding will contribute to improved equity of access to kaupapa Maori services for whanau living across the West Coast."

The previous funding level had limited Poutini Waiora's ability to provide a comprehensive service to whanau.

It was expected the additional staffing would improve Poutini Waiora's capacity to deliver Kaupapa Maori Well Child Tamariki Ora services to more whanau and enable "more intensive support" to those already engaged in the service.

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Public health funded 'health improvement practitioners' and health coaches will be soon starting work at medical practices in Hokitika and Greymouth.

A report to this week's DHB advisory group said the West Coast Primary Health Organisation's first round of recruitment for the Integrated General Practice Primary Mental Health and Addictions Service had been successful enough to cover practices in the two towns.

Practitioners and coaches would work as part of general practice teams providing people with "immediate support and tools" for wellbeing.

The first practitioner and coach began work at the Westland Medical Centre on May 23.

Additional practitioners would be joining Coastal Health and the Te Nikau Health Centre in Greymouth on completion of their training in July and August.

Recruitment had commenced for the role in Buller.