A newly expanded medical centre in North Dunedin will assist the growing demands of GPs, a clinician says.
Dunedin North Medical Centre staff had their first day in the new George St building yesterday.
GP Daniel Pettigrew said the project took more than five years to complete, but had created a modern and adaptable facility.
"It's clean. It's crisp. It's high-spec.
"The actual floor area is not that much bigger, but we've gone from seven consulting rooms in the old place to 12 consulting rooms. There’s also a much more accessible flow."
Their previous premises was an "old repurposed building" that had begun to "fall to bits", he said.
Dr Pettigrew said the centre had about 7000 patients on its books and about seven fulltime equivalent practising GPs.
The centre was very conscious of recent reports and coverage of GP burnout, as primary healthcare’s role had expanded, he said.
"The amount of work per patient certainly has increased with the ageing population and the associated complexity, as well as things getting pushed back into primary care.
"But I think we're quite fortunate that it's at a level that we can manage at present."
Dr Pettigrew said the improved facilities could lead to GPs being able to specialise in terms of the care they offered.
"Each of us have our own little areas of special interest, and those have been somewhat restricted in what we've been able to do by the space previously.
"We've got a GP who does a lot of women's health, for example, and I do a bit of sports medicine.
"We will have a bit more time to be able to run maybe subspecialty clinics and things like that.
"It's going to be really good — really, really good."
