NPO starting shuttle service for health appointments in town

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A new initiative to help get patients from the East Coast to  health  appointments in Gisborne city starts on Monday.

“There are not many places in Aotearoa that don’t have free health shuttles funded, so it felt like the East Coast was the last bastion for that, so it was a no-brainer really,” Ngāti Porou Oranga (NPO) Health director Sonya Smith said.

The service was for anyone on the Coast who had a health-related appointment, she said.

NPO applied for funding through the Cyclone Relief fund to get the service started with a pilot.

“We need people to use it,” Ms Smith said.

It will operate three days a week — Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

“It wasn’t sustainable to go to five days a week but we want people’s feedback, so if three days doesn’t work, we will evaluate the service.”

There will be a survey for whānau to fill out on each trip to get their views on it.

“Most will be specialist appointments at the hospital, but also if you have anything like eye- related, or dentist appointments, then this service is for you.

“This is for anyone on the Coast who has health-related appointments.

“We want people to use it so we can demonstrate to Te Whatu Ora that it is sustainable. We want to show that there is a real need for this.”

It is funded through Te Whatu Ora and NPO are running it.

The scheduled times for the shuttle are: 7.30am pick up at the Ruatōrea Clinic, then 8:10am pick up at the Te Puia Springs Hospital, 8:25am at the Tokomaru Bay Clinic, 9am at Te Whare Hauora o Te Aitanga a Hauiti in Uawa Tolaga Bay, and finally 10am at the Gisborne Hospital.

It will depart back to the Coast at 3pm from the Gisborne Hospital’s main entrance and arrive back at the Ruatōrea clinic at 5:30pm.

Bookings are essential, so ring 0800 777 078 to book in.