Plans for free clinic delayed

Press, 6 March 1984, Page 9

Plans for free clinic delayed

Plans for a free health clinic for low-income groups in Christchurch have temporarily “ground to a halt.”

A lack of finance and support, as well as staff changes at the Unemployed Rights Centre, were responsible for the delay in starting the project, said the senior social worker for the Community Mental Health team, Ms Cynthia Spittai. The need for the service still existed, especially with talk of general practitioners’ fee increases, she said. Plans for the clinic had not been dropped. The planned service seemed to be “politically unsavoury.” Several Christchurch City councillors had last year been enthusiastic about the project and were willing to support it. They were not re-elected at the local body elections and their successors “could see no reason to support the previous councillors’ decisions,” said Ms Spittai. Funding from the Health Department seemed unlikely because of a big demand for community service finance.

If a clinic was opened, it would probably have to rely on donations and charitable funding. An approach would be made to the Lotteries Board for a grant, she said. Several people at the Unemployed Rights Centre,

who had been familiar with the project, had left the organisation. The centre had tried to help launch the clinic.

Ms Spittai said she would wait until new staff members at the centre had settled in before again trying to start the clinic. An occupational health nurse, interested in working at the clinic if it opened, might soon give her services free several evenings a week, said Ms Spittai.