Telehealth consults increasingly common due to staff shortage

Midday Report

General practice owners say telehealth consults are becoming increasingly common as a way to manage critical staffing shortages of nurses and GPs. A severely short-staffed GP practice in Lower Hutt has had to stop doing face-to-face consultations, except in urgent cases. But High Street Health Hub patients desperate for appointments have struggled to enrol at other clinics, as other GPs have had to close their books. Dr Angus Chambers is a GP in Christchurch, and the chair of GenPro, the General Practice Owners Association.