Christmas Arrives Early With Busy Mobile Clinic

Sixty people kept doctors, nurses and a pharmacist busy when they came to the mobile clinic in Arataki and Greerton last weekend to receive Ngai Te Rangi Iwi’s Christmas present of a free health care visit with a GP or nurse for Community Card holders.

Two of those present, GP Dr Murray Hay and nurse Sue Baker, say they enjoyed the atmosphere of Christmas giving.
Dr Hay says people were genuinely grateful for the opportunity to see the team and we in turn were humbled by their response.

“We had people who were flabbergasted that people would do something like this for them for Christmas. We had people express that it meant a lot to them that people cared enough about them as individuals to want to help.
“Sixty patients is quite a significant number to engage with. I don’t think I had time to stop at either session,” Dr Hay says.

Nurse Sue baker says the atmosphere was very nice to work in.

“We had gazebos set up so people could see a doctor or nurse with complete privacy. We were also able to screen a number of patients for diabetes and hypertension.”

She says while throughout the year the team works with the Iwi’s HBU programme is primarily targeted at young people 14-24 years of age, this Christmas present was there to serve anyone who had a need.

“We had a whole range of ages come to see us including young mums with kids trying to stretch the budget before Christmas to older people and teenagers.”

Ngai Te Rangi Iwi spokesperson Paora Stanley says it was pleasing to see so many people attend as these were people who do not generally use medical services.

Stanley says while there are many reasons why people choose not to avail themselves of health care, his team’s experience is it is a feature of low socio-economics. He says poorer people either cannot or do not use mainstream medical services often because they can’t afford to get to clinics or are unsure how to access the services available to them.

“Our response is that we can take doctors and nurses right to where they are needed, and that is what we did.

“We were particularly pleased to see children being brought to the clinic by their parents. That gives us an opportunity to identify problems early before they become much more complex.

“We see children with skin problems that if left can become infected and very painful and difficult to treat. But if we get them early we can save future treatment costs and prevent young children experiencing pain or discomfort which in turn could impact their learning ability or self esteem. That also makes Christmas more enjoyable for them and for us.”

He says this Christmas present worked on a number of levels.

“It was a way we could tangibly show people that other people care about them.” And he says while the HBU programme is focused on at-risk youth, getting to the younger children may help prevent behavioral problems when these younger children become teenagers.

“For example, we know glue ear is something that is a common feature of low socio-economic situations. We also know children who have hearing difficulties can do poorly at school which can lead to them believing they are not capable or are ‘dumb’. That can lead to behavioral problems because they are embarrassed that they are not achieving. All of that takes them on a downward slope."

“If we can prevent those kinds of problems in our community before they lead to teens becoming violent or disruptive then maybe we can put our team of social workers out of business. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?”

Stanley says the Iwi is always looking to innovate in the way it delivers health services.

Pharmacist Pauline McQuoid of Medwise also helped out at the clinics to assess what need existed for people to better understand how to use medicines they may be given.

“We know from experience that prescription medicines are often not used as they should be and this can prevent people achieving the most benefit from their treatment. This can be due to people being unsure about what their medicines are for and how to use them correctly.

“This kind of mobile clinic is innovative and gets to the heart of our communities. We did see a need for explaining to some of the people who came how they can get more from their medicines and how they should be taking them. It was a good day.”