Whangārei And Counties Manukau To Receive 24/7 Urgent Care Boost
Minister of Health
Faster, more accessible urgent care for communities across Auckland and Northland will be delivered through Budget 2025, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.
'The Government is making a significant investment to improve access to urgent and after-hours healthcare nationwide, including across the Northern region,' Mr Brown says.
'Strengthening urgent and after-hours care is a key part of our plan to ensure all New Zealanders – including Aucklanders and Northlanders – can access timely, quality healthcare, when and where they need it.
'Budget 2025 will fund a new 24/7 urgent care service identified for Counties Manukau, providing more accessible after-hours options and easing pressure on the region's already busy emergency departments, including Middlemore.
'A new 24/7 urgent care service in Whangārei has also been identified, significantly improving access to care outside normal hours in Northland's largest city.'
Communities across Auckland and Northland will also benefit from extended opening hours, and greater support for rural and remote providers, with changes being rolled out over the next two years.
'These investments will give people – especially in rural and remote communities – greater access to essential services like diagnostics and urgent medicines when they need them.
'More options in the evening, overnight, and on weekends for locals will also reduce pressure on emergency departments and deliver better outcomes for patients.'
Key Budget 2025 initiatives for the Northern region include:
A new 24/7 urgent care service identified for Counties Manukau by late 2025.
A new 24/7 urgent care service identified for Whangārei from 2026.
Maintaining all existing urgent and after-hours healthcare services in the region.
Extended after-hour services identified for Dargaville, Hokianga, Kaitaia, and Wellsford.
Improved services for rural and remote Northland communities, including better access to diagnostics, urgent medicines, and 24/7 on-call clinical support.
'This Government is investing more in health than ever before, with a record $16.68 billion over three Budgets to improve health outcomes for Kiwis.
'Our investment will give Aucklanders and Northlanders more choice, reduce wait times, and bring care closer to home,' Mr Brown says.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
12 hours ago
- Scoop
New Medical Director Appointed
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners has appointed Dr Prabani Wood as its new Medical Director. Dr Wood is a Hamilton-based specialist GP working at the University of Waikato Student Health Service. Dr Wood obtained her medical degree and BA in Physiological Science from the University of Oxford and emigrated to New Zealand in 2005. She has been a GP for more than 16 years and brings a wealth of post-graduate experience in medicine, surgery, anaesthetics and public health, including a Master's degree in public health from the University of Auckland. In 2015, Dr Wood established a new GP practice in Hamilton, with the multi-disciplinary team providing comprehensive care to over 8,500 patients in the region. College Chief Executive Toby Beaglehole says, "Dr Wood's extensive academic, clinical and medical advisory experience gives her great insight into the challenging nature of general practice, primary care and rural hospital medicine. She is a passionate advocate for primary healthcare and shaping policy to deliver better health outcomes for New Zealanders, and we're looking forward to welcoming Dr Wood onto the College team." A desire to join the call for change and highlight the economic case for strengthening the specialist GP workforce led Dr Wood to publish a research report with The New Zealand Initiative in April 2025. The report, 'The Heart of Healthcare: Renewing New Zealand's Primary Care System' reviews the critical role and challenges facing general practice in New Zealand, focusing on the importance of continuity of care and systemic health care issues. Dr Wood takes up the Medical Director's role on Monday 11 August.
NZ Herald
15 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Health insurance: Insurers seek tax break to lower costs for employer-provided health cover
However, Financial Services Council chief executive Kirk Hope wants the Government to consider whether the economic benefits of making it cheaper for employers to provide their employees with insurance would outweigh the direct costs. For example, someone with private health insurance might be able to access healthcare more frequently, enabling them to nip health problems in the bud. They could also be treated for an ailment sooner, enabling them to be more productive and get back to work more quickly. Wider insurance coverage could also take strain off the public healthcare system. Hope makes his case as the Government outsources more work to private healthcare providers. The call also comes as the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) reviews FBT settings to try to make them simpler and fairer. However, Revenue Minister Simon Watts does not appear particularly hot on the idea. Asked whether he had a view on the pitch, or whether he would consider it, Watts said: 'The proposal isn't part of the Government's work programme at this point.' Indeed, the IRD did not mention exempting insurance in an issues paper on FBT it released in April. Rather, it explained it doesn't currently qualify as a 'health and safety' exemption, as flu vaccine vouchers do, because health insurance doesn't relate to a specific health and safety risk in the workplace. Consultant accountant Geof Nightingale said this wasn't the first time he had heard calls for insurance to be exempt from the FBT. He said the idea was generally discarded because of its cost to the Crown. Nightingale believed it would be easier to make the case from a health policy perspective than from a tax perspective. Deloitte partner Robyn Walker noted the threshold for tax exemptions were generally high to avoid 'slippery slope' situations – an exemption for one thing driving calls for further exemptions. Walker also questioned whether the exemption would end up benefiting white collar workers the most, whose employers might be more prepared to pay for insurance. Hope had a different view. He argued that if large employers of low-paid workers didn't have to pay tax on top of insurance premiums, they would be more inclined to offer employees cover. According to the results of a new Financial Services Council survey, 78% of people with life insurance and 56% with health insurance pay for it entirely out of their own pockets. Affordability is the key issue, with health and life insurance premiums rising at a rate well above the inflation rate. Jenée Tibshraeny is the Herald's Wellington business editor, based in the parliamentary press gallery. She specialises in government and Reserve Bank policymaking, economics and banking.
RNZ News
16 hours ago
- RNZ News
Cannabis cake taken to shared lunch at Hawke's Bay Hospital
Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER Health Minister Simeon Brown says police are investigating after two staff members at Hawke's Bay Hospital ended up in ED after eating a cannabis cake. TVNZ reported that the cake was brought to a shared lunch at the hospital on 30 June. Brown told media the staff involved were administrative staff. "No clinical staff were involved, but totally unacceptable behaviour. I understand Health NZ are taking it incredibly seriously and police are also investigating," he said. Brown said he doesn't know if the person who brought the cake to the shared lunch is still employed. "Ultimately, it's an employment matter and i'm not responsible for such matters, but it's been taken incredibly seriously," said Brown. He said the staff members who were taken to ED have been treated. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
