Palmer praises health scheme

Press, 22 July 1989, Page 9

Palmer praises health scheme

By

MICHAEL RENTOUL

Low-cost, preventive health-care measures pioneered by trade unions may be adopted elsewhere, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, said in Christchurch last evening.

The innovative measures looked promising, as patients benefited from longer consultations and cheaper fees, he said.

Mr Palmer was formally opening the Christchurch Trade Union Medical Centre, in Lichfield Street. Three such centres have opened in the North Island. The Christchurch centre is the first in the South Island.

The clinics, set up in response to trade-union concerns about access by low-income earners to general practitioners, had been assisted by a special Government grant, Mr Palmer said.

The subsidy, from the Primary Health Care Initiatives Fund, encourages

preventive measures as it is based on the number of registered users.

It is more economical for the centres to keep their patients healthy. General practitioners are normally paid on a fee-for-service basis. Mr Palmer said the community was increasingly aware of the value of preventive health care and self-care. Area health boards have recently been encouraged to adopt more preventive health-care measures.

The secretary of the centre, Mr Philip Cheyne, said 20 Christchurch unions had contributed a total of $70,000 towards the centre.

It had four fully equipped surgeries, and was seeing 140 patients a week, which kept it fully booked on most days.

Fees were $lO for adult members and $6 for children.

The centre opened in early May. -