After several months of negotiations, the after-hours service began operating on Sunday.
It covers patients from the Roxburgh Medical Centre, the four practices in Alexandra and the three in Cromwell and is based at Dunstan Hospital.
A non-profit organisation, Central Otago After Hours Inc, has been set up to run the service and chairman Dr Greg White, of Cromwell, said the combined service was making the best use of ''limited staff''.
''Sustainability's a bit of a buzz word these days but having more collaboration makes this service financially and practically sustainable.''
About 14 doctors were on the roster to provide after-hours care.
Some were from the various medical practices, some were locums and others worked at Dunstan.
''That means we've got something like 14 to share the workload, instead of having one person shoulder the after-hours care in those smaller practices, or, at the best, six doctors in the bigger practices.
"This should help address the problem of burnout - where people leave rural general practices because of the workload,'' Dr White said.
The group was renting a space at Dunstan Hospital and had access to some ''expensive equipment'' there.
Dunstan did not have an emergency department and having the after-hours clinic based there made the best use of resources - financial and human, he said.
Patients wanting after-hours care should phone their medical practice as usual and the call would be answered by a nurse triage service.
In the case of an emergency, people should continue to phone 111.
The doctors at the Cromwell Medical Centre remained opposed to the after-hours service and had opted out of being part of the roster.
However, after-hours calls to that practice would be dealt with by the new service, Dr White said. Cromwell Medical Centre doctor Anya Beale said the centre formerly provided a 24-hour medical service to patients in the Cromwell area and also provided 24-hour back-up to St John.
''Cromwell Medical Centre never had difficulty staffing our roster. We feel that basing the service in Clyde makes after- hours doctors' visits more difficult for people living in the greater Cromwell region.''
The centre had chosen not to be part of the service and supported the 1500 patients who signed a petition voicing their concerns about the changes.
In busy times, the skills of the on-call doctor might be stretched in many directions, Dr Beale said.
Dr White said he was ''ever-hopeful'' the Cromwell centre's doctors would ''come on board''.
CO after-hours care
• Service began on November 1.
• Covers Roxburgh, Alexandra and Cromwell practices.
• Cost for patients ''kept to a minimum''.
• Free care for children aged under 13.
• Operates daily from 6pm to 8am.
• Contact by phoning your usual medical practice.
