The centre has provided after-hours care to the Taieri community for about 50 years, but recent changes to the national funding model for after-hours care has resulted in Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand directing changes to after-hours arrangements in the Dunedin area.
Centre manager Kathryn Kenny said its after-hours service had run at a loss for several years, so Dunedin Urgent Doctors and HNZ had provided funding to continue its after-hours service from Monday.
"Our after-hours service remains the same for weeknights, but there is a reduction in weekend and public holiday hours.
"With the support of Dunedin Urgent Doctors, our patients can now be seen at their [Filleul St, Dunedin] premises with no financial constraints when our services close at 3pm."
The centre received funding to continue its service in August, but it was only interim funding for four months while HNZ’s new and improved urgent and after-hours framework was implemented, she said.
At this stage, the centre was still being funded to provide after-hours services during the week, with support from Dunedin Urgent Doctors.
It would be available to patients enrolled at both the Mosgiel and Outram Medical Centres, from 6pm to 9pm, Monday to Friday; and from 9.30am to 3pm on weekends and public holidays.
Outside of these time periods, patients would have to attend the Dunedin Urgent Doctors.
Mosgiel Health Centre was working to secure ongoing funding to allow the service to continue.
But if the funding was stopped, its after-hours service would have to close, she said.
Mosgiel Taieri Community Board chairwoman Rebecca Shepherd said she was pleased the service was able to continue.
"They’re still offering quite a full service through the middle of the day and during the weekends.
"I think it’s a win for the area that we’ve still got an after-hours service."
She did not believe the changes would be of concern for the township’s large elderly population.
If an elderly person needed to be seen by a doctor during the middle of the night, it would be wiser to call an ambulance, rather than take them to the Dunedin Urgent Doctor, she said.
"For people who are frail, an ambulance probably is the right choice anyway at night.
"If something’s happened that’s requiring urgent care, I would have thought an ambulance was a better option anyway.
"At the end of the day, I think the win for us is that we do still have those Outram and Mosgiel centres — we’ve got after-hours availability through the bulk of the middle of the day and the evening, which is great."
