increase font size
Dr Fiona Bolden
OPINION: Just as the entire country’s health system moved into a new structure last week, a fresh Rural Health Network was also launched.
Hauora Taiwhenua brings into one organisation nine separate groups who work in the rural health sector – including those working as Rural GPs, nurses, midwives, hospitals, researchers, community organisations and Maori.
According to the entity’s interim chair Dr Fiona Bolden, the main benefit of the new organisation is that it brings all the representatives of rural health and wellbeing into one place. She says, in doing so, it creates a very powerful voice in terms of rural health advocacy.
As Bolden says, this is a crucial time for the NZ health service as the new reforms take effect. NZ’s health service – especially rural – is suffering from underfunding and a lack of workforce planning.
One of the problems with the rural health system is what is known as the ‘post code lottery’, where health services are delivered on artificial boundaries and not necessarily relevant communities of interest.
Dr Bryan Betty, medical director of the College of General Practitioners, rightly points out that it’s important for patients with complex health issues and/or living in deprived areas to have quick access to frontline medical services – which is a real issue for many rural folk.
He hopes that the new structure of the country’s health services will bring an end to the ‘post code lottery’ that everyone talks about. That is something we all, particularly those in rural regions, are hopeful of.
However, as rural people are only too aware, postcodes and mail deliveries can sometimes be slow and unreliable. But when it comes to the health of rural communities this cannot be allowed to happen.
As Brian Betty correctly says, it’s an equity issue to ensure that we are giving equal health outcomes to all people in NZ and that includes rural communities.
It is a matter of life and death that these changes to NZ’s health system actually deliver!
In an ever-changing world, things never stay completely the same. Tropical jungles can turn into concrete ones criss-crossed by motorways, or shining cities collapse into ghost towns.
The Government wants to make sure that rural communities get a level of service that people who live in cities often complacently expect.
Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) says it welcomes recently announced consultation on Pharmac’s funding of ostradiol patches used by women going through perimenopause and menopause.
Over 1,000 Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers in the Hawke’s Bay have now been immunised against measles.
The director of Otago University’s new virtual Centre for Rural Health says there’s no one, single fix to the burgeoning staffing crisis facing the sector.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.
A tiny organism from the arid mountains of mainland Greece is facilitating a new way of growing healthier animals on farms across New Zealand.
