Thursday 8 December 2022Health news2 minutes to read
Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand’s physiotherapy services on the West Coast are currently experiencing significant staffing shortages. As a result, temporary changes to how services will be delivered across the Coast over the next three months have been implemented.
Te Whatu Ora Acting Director of Allied Health, Scientific & Technical on the West Coast Margot van Mulligen says: “Like many other health services across the motu (nation), we are feeling the impact of the national and international shortage of health care professionals.
“Unfortunately, our staffing levels have now reached a point where our capacity to provide a comprehensive physiotherapy service has become unsustainable. While we continue our efforts to recruit on both national and international platforms, we need to implement temporary changes to how services are provided across the West Coast.
“Coast-wide, there are currently only three permanent physiotherapists available to cover all areas – inpatients, outpatients and community. While we cannot provide all services, we will still accept referrals from GPs and other health professionals where physiotherapy input is essential to prevent serious harm or poor health outcomes.
“To assist with the current workload, we have secured the support of a physiotherapist from Dunedin until Christmas and have two new graduates starting in late-January 2023. As part of their orientation, each graduate will be provided with the opportunity to gain a broad range of skills and experience in a rural health setting. They will be supported and mentored by senior physiotherapists and will spend their time rotating between outpatients and our community team,” says Ms van Mulligen.
In the meantime, if you need non-urgent physiotherapy support, here are some options:
ENDS
Page last updated: 8 December 2022
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