A sudden change in funding regulations leaving many to foot the bill for their Covid-related appointments has caused "utter chaos", a GP says.
Cromwell Family Practice’s Dr Greg White predicted cutting the free provision of Covid-19 follow-up appointments would lead to a rise of community cases.
Dr White said Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand (HNZ) sent convoluted guidelines for the move away from free appointments for all but high-risk patients at 4.30pm on Friday.
"I am arriving to do our Covid clinic this morning to utter chaos," he said yesterday.
Health workers did not know who was supposed to be covered and what services would be funded, but felt the the move completely devalued their efforts to control the disease.
"We will be putting out a release to our patients explaining they may likely have to pay for Covid care. Many will not bother, of course, leading to poor health outcomes," he said.
Not having an accurate diagnosis could cause other complications, such as organ problems and opportunistic infections, he said.
Flow-on effects of further community outbreaks could also cause an outbreak of strep throat due to post-Covid immunosuppression.
"If this is being ignored, that is a complete abrogation of public health care for our children — winter is going to be ugly."
The pandemic was not over, he warned.
WellSouth chief executive Andrew Swanson-Dobbs said the reduction in funding would be felt by the whole health system and echoed concerns about the possible impact later this year.
"Covid funding has been a lifeline for many general practices and the loss of that revenue is likely to have consequences across all services, with particular concerns as we head into the next winter."
Some people would be unwilling or unable to pay to have an appointment, he said.
"This can in turn lead to people delaying care and becoming more unwell, or choosing to seek care in emergency departments."
Long Covid would also put even more pressure on primary care.
The additional costs associated with "red streaming" and Covid-related consultations, which generally took longer than standard consultations, were not factored into standard funding.
Because of this, some practices would need to charge more.
Some clinics might not be able to maintain streaming without the additional funding, he said.
However, the moves were a pragmatic step towards a "business as usual" approach to Covid-19, which aimed to continue targeting those most at risk, he said.
HNZ was unable to respond by the Otago Daily Times’ deadline yesterday.
However, HNZ national public health service interim director of outbreak response Matt Hannant told NZME on Sunday that chart reviews for all cases, post-hospital discharge follow-ups and patient-initiated follow-ups within six weeks of diagnosis would no longer be funded.
The move was made following consultation with the primary care sector.
New funding had been introduced to support pharmacist-initiated supply of antivirals, Mr Hannant said.
