December 06, 2022
Telehealth options to ease rural pressures
The chief medical officer for the Māori health authority says Te Aka Whai Ora is working with Te Whatu Orā on telehealth options which may reduce some of the pressure on rural and Māori health providers.
Rawiri McKree-Jansen says with current high Covid infection numbers, primary health care is stretched.
“Patients are experiencing that in terms of really long waiting times – I think unacceptably long waiting times – to be able to see their primary care health practitioner. We’re thinking especially for those rural communities and how we can support rural health providers with some telehealth assistance to get them through this really busy period,” he says
Dr Jansen says when that’s done Te Aka Whai Ora will look to do more for Māori providers.
The rolling average for new Covid 19 infections over the past week was 4926 a day, and there were 23 deaths over the week.