Practice Plus has busiest month supporting more than 1500 patients during the festive season

Practice Plus supported GP practices throughout the motu during the festive period offering telehealth appointments right through Christmas and New Year. From 23 December to 7 January, Practice Plus saw more than 1500 patients who needed to see a GP but their usual practice was closed or were working off holiday staffing levels, the busiest month so far for Practice Plus since its launch in 2021.

Practice Plus telehealth appointments aim to support GP practices with additional capacity afterhours from 5pm to 10pm on weekdays, and 8am to 8pm at weekends and public holidays, where patients can book often a same-day telehealth appointment with a clinician when their usual practice is closed. It aims to support practices, rather than take business away to ensure the general practice model remains sustainable, whilst supporting known challenges in the primary health sector.

Clinical Director for Practice Plus Dr Emma Calvert said the opportunity for Practice Plus to support our partner practices across the motu allowed some of our primary care workforce to take a well-earned break over the festive season.

“It’s been a long and busy few years with the pandemic, workforce shortages and reduced capacity for primary care to support the health sector. Many general practices entrust Practice Plus as their partner to provide care for their patients whilst they were closed, and this was evident in our busiest month to date seeing over 1500 patients” Dr Calvert said.

The busiest day was 29 December when the 11 Doctors rostered to work saw 120 patients. 90% of appointments were resolved by the telehealth appointment and we maintained a 4.7/5 star patient experience rating, with much of the feedback relating to how easy the service was to use, and the relief to get an appointment quickly.

“I’m proud of the hard work of our doctors over the festive period, and our teams that supported in the background, especially the booking centre staff at Tū Ora who supported with patient enquiries throughout the festive period. We will continue to improve and expand our service to support our communities well into the future and I’m excited to see this grow” Jess White General Manager added.

Nicky Hart, Chief Executive Officer of Feilding Health Care Group said Practice Plus was a fantastic service for patients enrolled with their Feilding, Ashhurst and Palmerston North Practices.

‘It’s really important that people can access care over the holiday period when practice hours can change from the norm. Practice plus offered a very convenient and accessible alternative when people needed to see a doctor during the festive period, outside of practice opening hours. We look forward to working with the great team at Practice Plus in the future, providing care for our patients.’

Practice Plus is available all year around with appointments available throughout the day until 10pm on weekdays, and 8am to 8pm at weekends and public holidays, including Christmas Day and Good Friday.