Health Minister Simeon Brown says the new service helps bridge a gap when traditional access to a doctor is not possible. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
The government's promised 24/7 telehealth service to help people see a GP or a nurse is now available anywhere in the country.
The service was announced in March.
Health Minister Simeon Brown said the service, announced in March, starts on Tuesday and would help those struggling to get an appointment with their regular GP or outside normal hours.
The minister said the service connected patients to clinicians through trusted providers using secure digital technology.
Doctors and nurse practitioners can assess symptoms, diagnose conditions, prescribe medications, and provide referrals - all from wherever the patient is.
Brown said the service could be used by patients such as a mother with a sick child in the middle of the night; someone waking up with a sudden rash on a public holiday; a farmer in rural New Zealand needing help after hours; a family on holiday in a different part of the country; or someone not enrolled with a local GP.
Brown said it would also help ease pressure on emergency departments.
Health NZ has signed up eight companies to provide the service. They are:
- Bettr Online
- CareHQ
- Emergency Consult
- The Doctors Online
- MedOnline
- Pocket Lab
- Tend
- Practice Plus
Some doctors have warned it will fragment and dismantle general practice and did not solve the country's acute GP shortage.
But the minister said the service did not replace GPs' critical role and instead helped bridge a gap when traditional access to a doctor was not possible.
He said the government was backing GPs, with an up to 14 percent funding boost this year to support them.
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