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Regional | Family

Whānau urged to access cheaper medical treatment after hours

Te Whānau o Waipareira is urging families who fall ill to visit Waitākere Hospital for treatment because it's cheaper. CEO John Tamihere says the organisation will run consecutive adverts advising families to visit the hospital, not after-hours clinics.

These billboards will be erected around West Auckland urging families to take their after-hour illnesses straight to Waitākere Hospital's Accident and Emergency department.

Tamihere says, “The cost for after-hours care is hurting so badly in terms of tipping our people over, that one is an access issue and two there's an affordable issue as well and three they get worse.”

Catherine and Lawrence Tagaloa are one of the many families who raised concerns with Te Whānau o Waipareira over the cost of treatment at after-hours clinics.

“It's going to affect our daughter’s education and she might not go to school the next day and maybe the next day. So it's going to affect all areas of your life. And problem is that she might not sleep well if we don't the treatment that she needs. So that is on-going and does that mean we have to take time off work. It just goes on and on,” says Catherine Tagaloa.

However, the Ministry of Health says patients seeking treatment at hospital accident and emergency departments, rather than through their GP or after-hours clinic, may affect the care of others who need urgent attention.

According to Mr. Tamihere, “If they’re not doing the business then, of course, we will take White Crosses money and we will run their A & E here at a far less cost.”

The cost for adults at the Henderson after-hours clinic is $92. Teenagers aged between 13 and 17 cost $64, and for senior citizens, it's $33.

A family at Te Whānau o Waipareira clinic says, “For us to pay $92 or however much it is for a five minute consultation, that's disheartening because on top of that to pay for your script to get medications.”

The advertisements will be out tomorrow.