Angus Chambers: General Practice Association Chair on the impact of the digital health service

A new digital health service is being praised, but one doctor believes it's doing more harm than good. 

More than 21 thousand consultations have been delivered through the 24/7 online scheme, which launched in July. 

Health Minister Simeon Brown says it gives Kiwis faster access to care when usual GPs are unavailable. 

Despite views it's easing pressure on the health system, General Practice Association Chair Angus Chambers told Mike Hosking it hasn't made any difference to staffing issues. 

He says it's making problems worse as it's taking doctors away from providing care for people in clinics. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Seem to have some positive news from the health sector.
The new twenty four cent digital Health service shows twenty
one thousand consultations have been delivered since the July launched.
Seventy one percent of these bookings were because you couldn't
get a face to face eighty three percent. This is interesting,
eighty three percent of patients didn't need an in person follower.
Doctor Angus Chambers, chair of gen Pros, will this Angus?
Good morning? What a Might this a good news story

(00:20):
or a worrisome story?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yeah? Look, I think probably more the latter. I don't
think the Telly Health Services addressing the real problems our
health system. When you look at the emergency departments and crises,
that hasn't touched that problem. So I think it's it's
a good news story in terms of it looks really good.
Oh look at all these numbers that it hasn't many
differents to the real issues.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
But if I'm happy as a punter and I could
get access to a GP for what, for most of
us anyway, is a bit of a once over lightly
in a script for you know whatever, then that solves
my problem. Who cares? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Look, and perhaps we should just put vending machines and corners,
so people don't even have to get professional opinions. I mean,
in the end, it's actually making the problem worse because
the Telly Health service is sucking GPS out of actual
providing care to people in clinics. I've got someone told
me the other day their service used to have five GPS.
Well they're not actually GPS on telling health, they might say,

(01:15):
But now they've got seventy five. So that's seventy GPS
less in our system. It's actually a vicious cycle that
takes people out of the system. They can't provide care
and clinics, so people end up bringing the Tallyhealth offering
is quite a lot easier as a job for doctors,
so the doctors are doing it are very sensible. That's
an easier job, there's less paperwork, they probably get paid

(01:36):
as much, if not more. So it's actually making the
problem worse.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
But it depends on what you're looking to do. I
understand your defense of it, and I sort of agree
to it. But for the punter, for the consumer, if
it works, it works, doesn't it, And this is the
way of the future. And then you're going to add
AI and it's going to change the whole thing completely.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
We are in the changing environment. I cannot agree with
you more. But look, if you look at some of
the data from the ROBUTS lab, this is just this
is just a snapshot of self reported stuff. But if
you look at the data from the telehealth services who
can go for a while, about twenty percent of people
end up having to go to the GP. So this
kind of stuff they've got here is probably an outlier.

(02:17):
So if you have to go and see the GP
after a tellysealth service and pay twice, that's not entirely
good for the punter. And there's certainly some well recognized
issues overseas of people coming to harm from Telly self
services because they actually miss things because they're missing out
one of the key safe offering operating procedures that we do,
which is examination.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
Well and angers appreciate it very much. Doctor Anders James's
the GIN approach here. Is he defending his patch and
the service is good or has he got

Speaker 2 (02:42):
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