CPCT - A Success Story In Southern

A WellSouth evaluation report reveals that the Comprehensive Primary & Community Care Teams (CPCT) programme is helping more high-risk people in communities access necessary healthcare for free, with more than 500 patients a month accessing free care.

CPCT, a national programme funded by Te Whatu Ora, was established to improve equity of access and health outcomes for people living in rural communities, Māori and Pacific Peoples.

WellSouth, the primary health organisation (PHO) for Southland and Otago, worked with general practices and community providers to understand what specific health roles were needed in communities and support investment.

WellSouth CEO, Andrew Swanson-Dobbs says the report shows the benefits of CPCT investment.

“It has been helpful for our general practices to support high-needs populations, being able to refer patients to an expanded range of services for free such as pharmaceutical review, physiotherapy and nursing support for long-term conditions.”

The CPCT teams now see about 500 patients a month – doubling over six months – improving access to free healthcare for those people, and supporting whānau with complex health issues. The report shows an example of a patient recently discharged from hospital who requires regular support and now has access to a CPCT nurse, free of charge, supporting recovery where this person may otherwise have disengaged with health services.

In Otago and Southland, the initiative provides for 17.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff across 37 locations, some at general practices, some at community providers and some across both.

Mr Swanson-Dobbs says, “The CPCT programme is addressing unmet needs and provides the opportunity to build and strengthen partnerships between local healthcare providers, which benefits the providers themselves as well as the communities.”

“Relationships and partnerships have been instrumental to the success of this initiative, with many of our cluster partners emphasising the value of developing and enhancing connections with other providers.

“For us, it has enabled strengthening our commitment to equitable health outcomes in primary and community care.”

Mr Swanson-Dobbs says that when CPCT was rolled out in Southern in 2023, the benefits were clear, but there were challenges.

“WellSouth established CPCT delivery ‘clusters’ of partner organisations across Otago and Southland to identify need and work collaboratively to overcome barriers such as referral pathways, and to work out the physical location of these roles,” he says.

“Clusters enabled flexibility for providers to adapt to their specific staffing needs and community contexts.”

The Aspiring Medical Centre in Wānaka employs several CPCT Care Coordinators, who provide free appointments for patients who may be facing economic, personal, or cultural barriers to their healthcare needs. This includes those with long-term conditions who require weekly medical appointments, that would otherwise leave them considerably out of pocket or inaccessible at all.

Aspiring Medical Centre nurse Eve Thorp, a CPCT Care Coordinator, who works alongside fellow nurse and CPCT Care Coordinator, Margaret Henderson, says:

“Our CPCT team use their time to build a rapport with patients whose long-term conditions require them to have multiple appointments and potential outside service involvement. The lack of time restraints and having the funding available for these appointments make the patients feel valued, and a relationship of care and understanding of their conditions develops. It allows us to support our patients to feel more in control of their health and assist them in navigating support services, as necessary.”

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