X-ray charges continue to irk Horowhenua locals

Not all x-rays are free in Horowhenua.

The Community Referred Radiology Service (CRRS) continues to irk Horowhenua locals. Just to be clear, this is currently under review, but lower back (lumbar) x-rays are not covered by this and never were. Now it has emerged that if you have a GP who lives and works outside the MidCentral region, you are also not covered.

In July, MidCentral DHB operations executive for primary, public and community health, Deborah Davies, said the temporary changes to Horowhenua radiology services involved only one radiology contract - CRRS. Charging for this service for people deemed not to urgently need it, solely based on ethnicity, was a trial and caused an uproar around the DHB area.

“If a patient has a situation that requires urgent radiology attention, this is covered under our Primary Options for Acute Care (POAC) programme, where they can access radiology assessment immediately. This urgent service is available to all and comes at no cost to patients.

“The Community Referred Radiology Service is an additional and supplementary service for non-injury-related radiology. Very few districts in New Zealand provide such a service. This has a capped annual value,” Davies said. This service has been free from June 27 and is currently being reviewed. X-rays charged prior to June 27 will not be refunded.

Part of the review includes the location of a Horowhenua resident’s GP. As many locals have trouble accessing a local practice, they seek practitioners elsewhere, as in the case of one Ōhau man, who previously lived in Raumati for 40 years and who has an excellent GP in Paraparaumu.

He discovered that he had to pay for a chest x-ray in Levin because his doctor is based in another DHB’s region.

“I do not understand it - we can get blood tests done here for free, and now this. My GP is excellent and I do not want to change, even if I could find one here.”

A Think Hauora spokesperson explained that the current contracts state the patient must have a local GP.

“As the patient’s GP is permanently based outside of the MidCentral region, the Community Referred Radiology Service does not fund the chest x-ray [for this patient].

“This was implemented when the funding criteria changed back in June, 2022. We are aware that this has caused a small number of issues, largely due to the inability for patients now permanently based in our region to enrol with a local practice that fits funding criteria.

“As a result, Think Hauora are looking into changes that can be made for the next round of contracts to ensure that the criteria is for residents permanently based in the region only, and it is not a requirement that they be seen by a GP in our region.”

One can only live in hope. But this will affect the many people in Horowhenua who are forced to go elsewhere for primary care as Horowhenua does not have enough general practices, and those that do have a local GP still often face long waiting times.