June 02, 2017
Waipareira challenges emergency health costs
As winter starts to bite, Te Whanau o Waipareira is telling West Auckland whanau to stand up for their right to healthcare.
It says rather than paying $92 for after hours care at one of the private clinics in the area, they should go straight to the hospital accident and emergency department if they or their tamariki get sick late at night.
Spokesperson Joe Lose says the social service provider has a long standing concern about the cost of emergency healthcare across Tamaki Makaurau, especially when the clinics are heavily subsidised by the district health boards.
"And we just don’t get it, that's why we say to our whanau don't hide in the room because you're not feeling the best or whatever, because that could develop into thousands of dollars costs if you have to go to hospital in the end. The A &E is free it's open 24 hours a day. Most people will do the right thing during the day. In the day they'll go to their GP or go to a clinic but it's after hours when people wake up or can't go to sleep and they feel really sick," he says.
Joe Lose says Waipareira is running the campaign through June, including billboards around West Auckland and community newspaper advertisements.
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