As has been shared by an ex-Head of the College of GPs, major cuts which are being proposed for primary health in Wellington and Kapiti are "very short-sighted" and in the long run, would end up costing even more.

Former Chairwoman of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, Helen Rodenburg, is among the staff which has, from Island Bay Medical Center, sent in a letter to The Dominion Post, expressing concern over Capital & Coast District Health Board's plan to garner savings of about $10 Million from its primary health budget.

Dr. Rodenburg is the Clinical Leader of CompassHealth as well, which is the organization which operates as many as three primary health establishments across Wellington.

In the letter sent, the staff has stressed that the planned cuts "fly in the face of robust international evidence that demonstrates the value of investing in the primary healthcare sector". They have also said that the "short-sighted cuts" might just end up resulting in sending more patients to the hospitals.

"We're all concerned that we could lose services that would affect patient care", Dr. Rodenburg said.