Te Oranganui Iwi Health Authority to shut doors on Castlecliff clinic

Wanganui's Maori health provider, Te Oranganui Iwi Health Authority, has announced the pending closure of one of its medical clinics.

The primary health organisation said its Te Waipuna medical centre in Castlecliff will close on May 18, a decision it said had been made after "a lot of consideration".

The PHO said the move would enable it to concentrate its energies and limited resources on its inner-city clinic which operates out of the old UCOL campus in Wicksteed St.

Te Oranganui announced its decision on the weekend but said it was looking for ways to provide for its Castlecliff clients.

A spokeswoman for the PHO said the closure was a matter of resourcing.

Te Oranganui employs four doctors. Two of them are full-time employees working out of the city clinic with another working part-time. A fourth GP looks after the Ohakune clinic.

"The problem is trying to manage our clinics in the central city, at Castlecliff and also at Waverley with those 2.5 people," the spokeswoman said.

She said while patients would flock to the clinic when a doctor was present, numbers would drop when there was only nursing staff on hand.

"We hoped to do a lot of our screening work there, things like cervical screening and diabetes checks, but for whatever reason that hasn't worked for us," she said.

The spokeswoman said they were acutely aware of their client base in Castlecliff and were working on a number of strategies to overcome whatever problems may arise as a result of closing the clinic.

One of those options could well be a shuttle service between the seaside suburb and the inner city clinic.