Doctors come to Taupo school's rescue

A group of Taupo doctors have come to the rescue of a local high school which did not qualify for government funding to run free health clinics for its students.

All of the Taupo districts three colleges were keen to improve student health through school health clinics, but only Taupo-Nui-a-Tia College in Taupo and Tongariro High School in Turangi were eligible for the funding.

However doctors at the Taupo Health Centre have stepped into the breach, using savings made at their surgery to provide the same service at Tauhara College.

Local GP Nick Bradford said he and colleagues Debbie Hughes and Dave Nixon decided to run the Tauhara College clinics because they thought it was unfair to provide services at one Taupo college and not the other.

Tauhara College was also further away from the town centre and students had difficulty accessing contraception and sexual health services, as well as advice on general health matters.

Both colleges run doctor clinics for two hours a week and nurse clinics for three hours a week.

Dr Bradford said in some cases students were not used to accessing medical treatment off their own bat and or were not confident enough to visit a doctor at their own surgery, so it was nice to know they felt they could come to a school clinic.

"Adolescent health is one area that the health statistics haven't improved over the last 30 years and we thought it was time to try and address that if possible. It wasn't being done in the standard model, so we thought we should go out and see them, rather than expecting them to come to us."

Tauhara College principal Peter Grant said the service was a valuable supplement to the services already being provided in town for students who lived out in the country, or were too broke or embarrassed to go to a doctor in town.

He said the clinics helped get the students into good health habits and also meant they could deal with any health worries promptly, allowing them to focus on their schoolwork.

At Tongariro High School principal Bhrent Guy said local GP Meg Gustafson's Monday morning school clinics were usually fully booked and she dealt with everything from injuries to personal problems.

They helped provide better health care for the students and easier access to medical help because it overcame the difficulties of approaching a doctor in a more formal setting, he said.

At Taupo-Nui-a-Tia College the doctor and nurse clinics are run over the road from the school at the CAFE clinic in Waiora House.

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)