Mum of eight sick of 'doctor shortage'

Is there a doctor drought in Wairarapa?
While the managers of two large Masterton practices say yes, a firm "no" is the answer from the region's Primary Health Organisation.
But as far as Masterton mother-of-eight Kerry Hefferen cares, there's definitely something sick about the time it takes to get a doctor's appointment here.
She has been battling on behalf of her family to get treatment over the past months and said she is tired of being told "it's winter everybody's sick".
"Buses and trains don't pack up in winter so why should doctors' clinics?"
She was recently angered when appointments for her mother and son were both cancelled within the same week, which meant her son endured a "terrible night" without the antibiotics he needed.
She was further frustrated when her father was unable to get a "prompt" appointment at both Masterton Medical and The Doctors.
"When my mum phoned the Emergency Department for him, as advised by The Doctors, she was told 'don't come here, we are too busy' and that he could wait up to eight hours there.
"I have spoken at length with several nurses and reception staff at Masterton Medical about how difficult it is to get an appointment, not to mention how frustrating it is to get an appointment within the same week.
"They were very understanding but couldn't make appointments from thin air."
She said she had refrained from making appointments many times this winter "because it's so much of a bother to get one".
"I've had to fight to get appointments this year and I really worry that some people out there who aren't as pushy as me are being seriously affected."
The answer to the problem is simple, she said: Bring more doctors to Wairarapa. I can't understand doctors not wanting to come here.
"Doctoring in Masterton is a lifestyle not a profession. I remember the old days when doctors worked late and were on the other end of the phone after hours.
"It was tough for them and their families but I remember feeling mine were safe and help was available. Now I have to scratch and claw and be rude to get an appointment."
The Doctors director David Nixon admitted there is a shortage of doctors in the town, which has been an ongoing problem for the past eight years.
"There is an international shortage of GPs but we have been working hard to position ourselves as a great place to work."
He said winter had hit the practice hard but there were strategies employed to manage the situation.
"We have been put under extra pressure by having doctors and nurses sick over this period and in one week we had one doctor on planned leave and two others off unexpectedly this caused considerably difficulties.
"It is a difficult situation and one that neither us nor our patients are happy about. But we are doing the best we can."
Masterton Medical manager Jeff Ryan agreed there is a shortage.
"The ratio of doctors to residents we have at the moment is one to 16-1800. It should be one to 1100."
Masterton Medical had experienced an increase of around 17 per cent in patient numbers over winter.
"It makes it very difficult for people to get appointments, I know.
"There's a national shortage in doctors, and we can't just pull them out of the air. It's hard to get them to come from overseas when they are getting paid much better there."
But Wairarapa PHO manager Carl Gihon ruled out any lack and said the region has all the GPs it needs to service the population.
He said, however, that there were issues which needed to be carefully planned for.
"For example, Wairarapa medical practices have been stretched to the limits this winter. There has been a virulent strain of flu about, and the flu season has been more intense and longer duration than usual this winter."
Some of the region's medical centres had been under "a lot of pressure particularly when their own doctors and nurses have come down with the flu as well", Mr Gihon said. "It looks like we are over the worst of it now, and the medical centre staff can now look forward to some respite as we come into spring."
He said another issue was that the enrolled population registers for the Wairarapa practices had increased by 2000 people since the PHO started in 2004.
"Most of this growth has been in people over age 45, with a significant growth trend of people over age 65.
"People aged over 65 visit the doctor or nurse up to six times more than people aged 25 to 44, so this phenomena is also putting pressure on all our centres."
PHO board of trustees chairwoman Elaine Brazendale said there are many initiatives under way to help doctor and nurse numbers.
"The practices are now in a training scheme for rural training of GPs and we have the very successful nurse training scheme at Ucol in Masterton producing nurses for the future.
"We have been aware for some time that a heavy winter would put the system under pressure and the implementation of the primary care strategy that the PHO is working through is our response to that issue."