A medical centre in Christchurch is embracing the government's new health priority by bringing traditional and alternative health experts together under one roof.
A key health priority for the government is to have quicker, better and more convenient local health services for New Zealanders.
At Helios Medical Centre in the Christchurch suburb of St Martins there is an A to Z of health on offer, from acupuncture to art therapy, occupational therapy, GP services and even a café as an alternative to a waiting room.
Made up of six doctors and 20 specialist therapists and nurses
the centre opened its doors two years ago and is a long-held dream
for two GP's.
"I came to general practice and realised I just didn't want to
practise handing out a lot of medication but more to understand the
whys. Why this child gets ear infections and the other child
doesn't, sort of thing," GP David Ritchie says.
Zach Georieff came to the centre with his mum Kathleen to get alternative ideas for Zach ears.
"Of course you've got the normal doctors and you want that.....but what you've got is a complementary service where you go and use natural remedies and there's a respect for that," she says.
Four thousand patients are enrolled to come to the centre for treatment but just as many again turn up as casual patients from right across the city and the region. They have had 13% patient growth in the past year alone.
The team has round-table discussions on individual patients trying to figure out the cause of their illness.
"If I haven't got the right answer then someone else will know how to change the approach," Ritchie says.
It is a one-stop-shop approach that the government is keen to see more of.
"It shows you what you can do right now within the existing organisational, financial and legislative framework," says David St George from the Ministry of Health.
However, it is not for everyone.
The ministry says a recent survey showed while 20% of GP's now offer patients some sort of alternative treatment and 90% say they have referred patients on to natural practitioners, most still have concerns collaborating to this extent.
But there are no such concerns at the Helios Medical Centre.
"I see it as extending orthodox medicine, not at all replacing it," says Ritchie.
