Young people get a "nasty shock" when asked to pay for sexual health consultations that are unfunded while a healthcare plan goes unsigned, Amity Health Centre GP Susie Lawless says.
The Southern Primary Health Organisation's clinical programme, which was to run from July 1, has not been signed off by the Southern District Health Board, blocking a raft of entitlements.
Dr Lawless said young people had to pay $38 for a service they had received free until the end of June.
A funding bridge should have been put in place between plans, she said.
If approved, the new plan allowed two sexual health visits a year for those under 21. It was less generous than what had operated in Dunedin, under which young people had unlimited sexual health visits.
It was difficult for GPs to suggest a costly follow-up appointment was necessary, she said. "What bothers me is they won't come back."
If a serious need arose, the clinic would waive the fee, she said.
Mornington Health Centre manager Barbara Bridger said the centre was subsidising young people's sexual health visits from pre-amalgamation funding. The sign-off delay was disappointing, she said.
PHO chairman Dr Conway Powell said sign-off was taking longer than expected, but he was confident it would be sorted out soon.
It was the first super PHO clinical programme, and it was a learning process for all concerned. He acknowledged the delay was costing patients.
Unlike Dunedin, Southland had no funded GP sexual health visits under the old PHO system, and now the areas would be equal, he said.
