Southern wellbeing service exceeding expectations
A recent review of the Southern wellbeing service, Access and Choice, has shown the service is exceeding national targets in almost every area, and patients are reporting high levels of satisfaction.
The independent evaluation by Synergia has found that WellSouth’s Tōku Oranga Access and Choice Southern Service programme has made significant progress since its first review in 2023, including expanding its reach, improved quality and consistency, and delivering faster, more equitable mental health and wellbeing support across Otago and Southland.
WellSouth Primary Health Network has been delivering Access and Choice since 2019, working with partners to fund Health Improvement Practitioners (HIPs), Health Coaches and Community Support Workers in general practice. The service offers free, walk-in, 20-30 minute appointments to patients of that practice, without the need for referral or waiting lists.
Access and Choice is nation-wide.
The Tōku Oranga Access and Choice Southern Service recently won the reCare Best Mental Health Programme at the NZ Primary Healthcare Awards | He Tohu Mauri Ora.
The Synergia evaluation found the following indicators:
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Now reaches 76% of WellSouth’s enrolled population, up from 36% in 2023.
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The service is available in 51 of WellSouth’s 76 practices, including strong representation in rural communities.
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In the year to May 2025, the service supported nearly 20,000 people – equivalent to 7.7% of those eligible, exceeding the national target of 6.5%.
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Eighty-four percent of clients are seen within one week, and 62% are seen on the same day, surpassing national expectations.
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The evaluation also confirmed strong equity for Māori and Pasifika, with both groups enjoying higher rates of access than the overall population.
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Overall service productivity up significantly since 2023.
WellSouth CEO Andrew Swanson-Dobbs said he was proud of the results.
“This is a programme that we embraced in Southern. From the start, we have progressed, promoted and improved the service, focusing on growing wellbeing coverage for our community.”
Synergia found that the service is responsive and effective, showing levels of patient satisfaction, with an average rating of 9.1 out of 10 for ‘helpfulness’ and 8.7 for confidence in following wellbeing plans.
Analysis of wellbeing data shows positive, holistic benefits to people’s mental, physical, and social wellbeing.
The report showed improvements were due to growing confidence by Access and Choice workforce as well as the practices where the service is embedded. It noted a clearer structure, standardised Clinical Task Instructions (CTIs), dedicated team leads and improved training as other positive developments. Innovations such as community hub placements and enhanced dashboards supported real-time quality improvement.
While recruitment, rural delivery, and wider system integration remain challenges, the model is now seen as high-performing, good value for money, and delivering meaningful benefits for southern communities.
The service is not only enabling greater access and immediacy to wellbeing advice, but it has eased pressure on other clinicians and services including the Brief Intervention Service (BIS).
“In a constrained environment with workforce pressures, that is very valuable,” says Mr Swanson-Dobbs.
“Overall, the picture shows growing confidence, capability and consistency. It’s delivering strong value for money, meeting or exceeding all national productivity targets, and importantly, is helping people get timely help at the right level.”
Evaluation approach
Synergia’s review applied a four-lens framework to examine service performance across key dimensions of quality and impact including ‘population’, ‘people’, ‘productivity’ and ‘practicalities’. The evaluation combined analysis of two years of service data (to May 2025), patient feedback, interviews with 19 practitioners and sector representatives, and benchmarking against the national Access and Choice performance framework.
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