Taupō Medical Centre, Lake Surgery to merge

Taupo Medical Centre's team will be joined by two new GPs, plus staff from Lake Surgery. /Joel Corbett

Big changes are underway for two of Taupō's three GP surgeries.

After months of having no permanent general practitioners on staff, Lake Surgery is merging with Taupō Medical Centre.

The merger, on August 21, would have the Lake Surgery premises in Tongariro St close permanently, with patients automatically enrolled with Taupō Medical Centre.

Taupō Medical Centre director Dr Dale Towers said the difficult recruitment landscape left Lake Surgery in a challenging position, with no other real option than to merge with a practice.

The changing way GP practices were funded made it increasingly impossible for smaller surgeries to survive, he said.

Even larger surgeries were forced to find new ways to operate; the medical centre was using virtual clinics with two doctors located outside Taupō, alongside traditional face-to-face appointments.

“The present situation is driving primary practice, including Taupō Medical Centre, to find innovative approaches.”

The practice used a “teams-based approach”, Dr Towers said, so patients might see a GP, nurse practitioner or nurse, depending on their needs, but with a doctor “overseeing the standard of care”.

They had successfully recruited two new overseas GPs who were expected to start in August and September, to help with the additional load of patients who will be transferred from Lake Surgery.

The staff from Lake Surgery, including nurses and reception staff, have been offered contracts with Taupō Medical Centre, but not all had accepted them as of last week.

Mark Taylor, regional business manager for Primary Health Care Limited, the owner of Lake Surgery, said the priority had always been patient care.

“The main consideration with this merger was to ensure continuity of essential primary health care services to the Taupō community.

“The move to TMC will broaden the range of medical services available to patients and will offer a more integrated approach to healthcare needs that is sustainable well into the future.”

Patients with urgent needs are offered same-day appointments at Taupō Medical Centre, but the practice has average waiting times of 12 working days to see a GP — far higher than their target of under five.

It is hoped the new staff would help bring this number down.

Dr Towers said patients didn’t need to be concerned about the continuation of their care because both surgeries used the same systems, so notes would be quickly moved to the medical centre.

“GPs can see the patient’s information, and that won’t be lost in this transfer.”

“Importantly, both Lake Surgery and Taupō Medical Centre patients will continue to receive the visit fee subsidy and hence no fee change will arise from this merger”.

However, patients unhappy with the change were left with little recourse, with the other practice in town, Taupō Health Centre, not accepting new enrolments from patients who were already registered with a GP in Taupō.

Dr Towers said patients at Lake Surgery and Taupō Medical Centre would receive letters over the next two weeks to inform them of the changes.