WellSouth Statement On New HNZ Telemedicine Announcement

As the primary health organisation (PHO) for Otago and Southland, we at WellSouth have always maintained that primary care investment should first and foremost be for the workforce, on the ground in our communities within existing general practices. Our rural communities especially need clinicians to keep their practices sustainable. When in some cases you have a general practice with one GP, who is looking to retire , we have a lot to be concerned about.

So, while telemedicine is an important part of the primary care offering, for us in Southern we need more investment in our people. That is why at WellSouth, we are investing in building and sustaining our local general practice workforce, through new investment in training and supporting our GP registrars and new nurse practitioners, in addition to our existing nursing workforce and Health Care Assistants.

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