Doctors will now be paid for after-hours shifts they cover at the Dunedin Urgent Doctors and Accident Centre, but the rate is still only half the $60 an hour payment they used to get.
Practice manager Belinda Watkins said improved cash flow at the centre had enabled a $30 an hour payment to be reinstated and it would be revisited again in February.
"It is a move in the right direction."
The doctors have been working without pay since June as the centre struggled with lower patient numbers during the recession.
"I think we are probably still in the recession, but we have made enough cuts to have seen ourselves through it."
It was always difficult to match resources with demand, as the centre was "very much reliant on who comes in the door".
Patient numbers were at present similar to those in 2007, but they had increased last year and the centre had "geared up" to meet demand.
The centre provided a very necessary service and she was appreciative of doctors "coming to the party" and helping out during a difficult year, Mrs Watkins said.
The fracture clinic, upgraded at a cost of $50,000 this year, had also provided a constant revenue and was bringing in about 400 patients each month.
"It is one of the success stories. If we didn't have that we probably wouldn't have got through it."
The urgent doctors centre had been in discussions with the Dunedin Hospital emergency department about the practice closing at 10pm, but despite initially being positive, the Otago District Health Board turned down this request.
The board is concerned about meeting new targets for shorter stays in emergency departments set by the Ministry of Health this year.
About 2.5 patients were seen on average at the centre between 10pm and 11.30pm, when it still had one doctor, a nurse and a receptionist working.
Many accident centres around the country closed at 10pm, Mrs Watkins said.
The centre works as a co-operative venture among about 65 Dunedin doctors, excluding those at Mornington Health Centre which provides its own after-hours care.
