New Community Paediatric Registrar for Horowhenua

27/04/2011 | Dr Sarah Loveday

Dr Sarah Loveday began working as the community paediatric registrar in the Horowhenua region last December.

A community paediatrician is someone who works within the broader picture of paediatrics and deals with a wide range of issues relating to the wellbeing of children in the community. Dr Loveday is currently completing a community needs assessment to work out what services need to be in place in the Horowhenua community.

Doctor Loveday said: “I’ve always wanted to be a paediatrician. I love kids and working with them and their families, and I love educating families about the health of their children.”

Originally from Palmerston North, Dr Loveday went to Auckland to attend Medical School and worked as a doctor up there for ten years at the three major hospitals.
In Horowhenua her main aims are establishing links within the community and working out what health care providers need as well as what the community needs in the way of paediatric care.

She has been visiting schools, kindergartens, Plunket clinics and other child-based community services to establish what is needed and wanted, and what challenges need to be overcome. Eventually Dr Loveday will make community paediatric recommendations for Horowhenua in the future.

“My favourite part of the job is actually having the resources and the time to work with the bigger groups of the community. The challenging aspect of the job is trying to find ways of accessing the hard to reach groups in the community, understanding the barriers to these groups and finding ways to overcome them”.

(Photo available on request).
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