An around-the-clock urgent healthcare service will start in Dunedin before Christmas, potentially easing pressure on the city hospital’s emergency department.
The 24/7 service at Dunedin Urgent Doctors & Accident Centre is due to open on December 17.
Its establishment was announced by the government in May and more details were made available yesterday.
Health New Zealand living well director Martin Hefford said the service would include diagnostics, pharmacy and radiology.
A team of doctors, nurses and other health professionals would be on hand to provide urgent care, he said.
The expanded service was part of the government’s $164 million investment over four years to improve urgent and after-hours care throughout New Zealand, he said.
Health Minister Simeon Brown said the changes meant more New Zealanders would get the urgent care they needed "without needing to go to the emergency department unless it’s a real emergency".
The goal was for 98% of New Zealanders to have access to urgent care within an hour’s drive of their homes.
WellSouth chief executive Andrew Swanson-Dobbs said an urgent care service in Invercargill was set to expand from July next year.
Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey said the wider programme should make a difference to rural communities.
Trials would help shape the design of services for up to 70 rural locations in the next two years, he said.
