It was gutting to learn early last week that East Care has been forced into a position where they will be discontinuing their overnight primary health service.
This means they will now close at 11pm and re-open at 7am in the morning.
Counties Manukau DHB cut funding for East Care’s overnight service two years ago however East Care chose to continue providing this critical overnight service to our community, funding it themselves, something I am very grateful for East Care deciding to do.
Unfortunately, due to this lack of funding, staff fatigue and losing key staff has meant it is now not safe for East Care to continue operating overnight.
This is unacceptable for our community and leaves 130,000 people living in east Auckland without an overnight primary health service.
Christopher Luxon – MP for Botany and I have jointly written to Counties Manukau DHB CEO Margie Apa raising the community’s concerns and requesting an urgent meeting to discuss this issue and to find a solution.
We have also launched a petition whereby the community can register their request for the DHB to reinstate funding to East Care so that a 24/7 primary health service can be made available for our east Auckland community. You can sign this petition at www.save247eastcare.co.nz.
We are committed to finding a solution for our community and look forward to working alongside our community to do this.
As this is my final column for 2020, I would like to also wish you all a very merry Christmas from my family to yours.
Thank you to the Times for the opportunity to write this regular column to keep you updated on important local and national issues which affect you.
I am very grateful for the support I have received from the Pakuranga Electorate this year. 2020 has been an incredibly tough year for many in our community and I do wish you all the very best for 2021. I look forward to continuing to serve you in the new year.
My office will close on December 24. We will re-open again on January 11 in 2021. In the meantime, please feel free to contact us via email at PakurangaMP@parliament.govt.nz which will be monitored regularly through the break.
Merry Christmas
Simeon Brown – MP for Pakuranga
