A practice nurse and a general practice assistant serving often homeless clients at Auckland City Mission’s general practice are to be funded for three years by a charity trust.
Auckland City Missioner Chris Farrelly welcomed the three-year funding commitment from the Southern Cross Health Trust for its Calder Health Centre staff, who serve some of Auckland’s most marginalised people.
“This funding enables the Mission to provide more intensive health care services to the complex patient group we serve.”
The Calder Health Centre currently has 1,621 enrolled patients and conducts more than 14,000 health consultations annually. The average number of visits per patient at the Calder Health Centre is around 11 per year – about three times the national rate. Consultations are also significantly longer than normally required in general practice, with most patients from the most socioeconomically deprived section of the population.
One regular patient at the Calder Health Centre said one of the worst things about sleeping rough was being being wet all the time. “My feet get infected because my shoes and socks are always wet. My feet smell and I am ashamed. The nurse at the Calder Centre cleans my feet and treats the infection. No one else wanted to do this for me.”
