New scheme to alleviate pressure at Tauranga Hospital's ED

WBOP PHO services leader Philippa Jones with Tauranga St John territory manager Ross Clarke. Photo/supplied

More patients are likely to be taken to their family doctors by ambulance staff as a new trial gets underway in the Western Bay of Plenty.

The eight-week trial funded by the Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation is believed to be the first initiative of its type in the central North Island.

The trial, which began just before Easter, involves four senior nurses from the health organisation's Health and Wellness Services centre on 1st Ave partnering with St John staff to help assess the healthcare needs of people who phone for an ambulance.

Patients who have serious conditions requiring treatment in Tauranga Hospital's Emergency Department will be taken there by ambulance, as usual. However, patients with certain non-urgent conditions that are best treated by family doctors will be referred or taken to their general practice instead, after the nurse and ambulance personnel have phoned ahead to ensure that a doctor is available.

Health organisation services leader Philippa Jones said the new scheme had many benefits including "a continuity of care that comes from family doctors knowing the medical histories of their patients and what medications they are already taking".

"Such knowledge is not always available to hospital staff, and this means that family doctors are often best-placed to make decisions about their patients' healthcare."

Jones said patient safety was paramount. People would only be taken to their family doctors when that was deemed to be the best course of action.

Visits to the hospital's emergency department are generally free. The health organisation will provide funding to ensure that most people diverted to their family doctors will not have to pay for the GP visit. St John ambulance fees will apply in the normal way, just as though the patients had been taken to hospital.

St John territory manager Ross Clarke said a small number of patients were already being delivered to general practices, but the trial would significantly add to that and enable patients with non-urgent conditions to access the right care sooner.

"From what I've observed so far, there is very good integration between St John and Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation staff," he said.

"It's all about finding the most appropriate treatment for patients. Having nurses with us is a great help, as they are the experts regarding which primary health services are available within the community."

Last year, St John ambulances responded to 20,000 calls within the Western Bay and took nearly 13,000 people to Tauranga Hospital's Emergency Department. About 73 per cent of those people were admitted for more than three hours. The current trial is being used to develop a referral pathway for non-urgent ambulance patients that is expected to become permanent.

The trial covers most of the Western Bay, including Te Puke and Katikati.