A group of medical specialists are regularly winging their way to Central Otago from Dunedin, providing care to people across the district. 

While Dunstan Hospital has specialists visiting most days of the week from Dunedin Hospital, some make the trip with Mainland Air so they can provide longer clinics.

Pilot Jordan Kean said the Dunedin to Alexandra flight, using a nine-seater Piper Chieftain, takes about 30 minutes, giving specialists less time travelling by car and more time caring for their patients.

Those frequent flyers often include specialists from medical oncology, obstetrics and gynaecology, elderly health and general surgery.

There have been 49 return flights in the past 12 months.

Dunstan Hospital has a contract with Mainland Air to provide the flights and also has a contract with Te Whatu Ora Southern for some of the specialist services.

Others are delivered directly by Te Whatu Ora at Dunstan Hospital.

Te Whatu Ora group director of operations Hamish Brown said the organisation was committed to providing all New Zealanders access to healthcare services no matter where they lived.

Dunstan Hospital, where medical specialists from Dunedin work from on a regular basis. PHOTO: The Central App

“Throughout Aotearoa, specialists and clinical teams travel by air and road from tertiary hospitals to rural areas to provide care and treatment to the community.”

He said specialists in cardiology, continence and stoma specialist nurses, gastroenterology, endoscopes and gastroscopes, colposcopy, neurology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, orthopaedics, paediatrics, respiratory, retinal photography, general surgery and breast services also make regular visits from Dunedin to Dunstan Hospital.

Specialists see up to 18 patients per clinic.

The mobile surgical bus also visits Dunstan Hospital six times a year where minor surgical services are provided from.

Hamish said bringing specialists to Dunstan Hospital meant some patients did not need to travel to Dunedin or other locations to access specialist care. 

However, some patients still need to travel for specific care such as radiation, some MRI scans and surgery.

He said as the Central Otago and Clutha population continues to grow, it was likely there would be different health care needs for the community in the future.

“We are working collaboratively with our regional and national Te Whatu Ora colleagues and primary care to identify community needs and develop a rural health plan.”

Dunstan Hospital runs an after-hours general practice service, an urgent healthcare service, which is open from 6pm to 8am, seven days a week.

It can be accessed by calling the Healthline on 0800 611 116 and, if appropriate, the triage service will make arrangements for people to be seen by the after-hours GP service. 

In a medical emergency call 111 for an ambulance.

To find out who the on-call doctor is at weekends, click on The Central App’s medical button.