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Advocacy
Marie Daly
GM Advocacy

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?

Advocating for better health outcomes for all those who live and work in rural communities is fundamental to who we are.

Hauora Taiwhenua is proud of our reputation for being a credible, solution focused voice of rural health, for, with, and on behalf of our members, and the rural communities they live in, and care for.

Our advocacy work spans a wide range of issues, and takes many forms ranging from large, in person hui, to one or two of our members or staff participating in representative forums or advisory groups.

Rural Health Equity Through Principles of Considered Design

HTRHN Hauora Māori Submission

HTRHN Submission - Draft Suicide Prevention Action Plan 2025-2029
Dr Jeremy Webber
Clinical Director Rural Health

Hear what our Clinical Director has been up to!

Advocating for better health outcomes for all those who live and work in rural communities is fundamental to who we are. Find below for some video updates from Dr Jeremy Webber, our Clinical Director Rural Health, for some of the work he has been involved in of late.

Clinical Networks

Aeromedical Review

Get Involved in Clinical Leadership

Tracking progress on our "Briefing to the Incoming Ministers" 20 Point Action Plan

The first Rural Caucus event is planned for 7th May 2024, with Hauora Taiwhenua Council members and Rural Communities Chapter members.

Mobile Health’s Surgical Unit will also be on the Parliament forecourt.

Te Whatu Ora & NGO rural hospitals workshop planned for March 1st, to workshop rural hospital sustainability.

NGO rural hospitals and general practices who provide medical services in their co-located Te Whatu Ora hospital have asked that the financial and clinical risks they face be addressed because their funding does not allow them to achieve pay parity for their clinical staff.

National Prime Commitee facilitating PRIME workshop on Thursday 4th April 2024 at the National Rural Health Conference, with review as key agenda item.

HNZ (& Te Aka Whai Ora) Mental Health and Addiction BIM: stocktake by service type, and geographic location completion date end of 2023 – yet to be released

  • Quarterly meeting with Ka Ora.
  • Hosting Ka Ora in HTRHN Mystery Creek Fieldays booth in June 2024
  • MPI through their Rural Communities programme have funded the establishment of community hubs (around 30). Have asked for information about how these are going, and if they are used to assist access to health services.
  • Promote availability and uptake of Remote User Scheme Grants for rural and remote households ($2000 per household)

HNZ has received our request for evaluation data on current relocation cost pilot and advice on their intention for the continuation of this beyond June 30, 2024.

Lobbying to support continuing NZRex training initiatives

Lobbied for educational incentive payments as an easy-win for Govt to support rural members of GP Team at reasonable cost – based on current Australian incentive models.

Contract has been renewed so the programme will continue for a further 12-month term till December 2024

See (18). Also promoting models of interdisciplinary training prototypes that recognize and reward training time of experienced rural staff in training and mentoring those coming into professions.

750,000

people live rurally

194

Rural General Practices

26

Rural Hospitals

Relevant news

Rural Research Snapshot highlights struggle to have good health outcomes in rural areas.

For years, our rural healthcare workforce has known intuitively that those in rural areas have poorer health outcomes than those in urban areas, but there has been no clear data to show this. In 2022, academics from Otago and Waikato Universities developed a geographical definition of rurality for health purposes, finally enabling the sector to compare the health outcomes of those living in rural areas with those in or near cities.

Submission on changes to ACC regulations for Chinese Medicine, Paramedics and Audiometrists

Please find the link below for Hauora Taiwhenua's submission for to ACC on changes to ACC regulations for Chinese Medicine, Paramedics and Audiometrists. Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission on changes to ACC regulations for Chinese Medicine, Paramedics and Audiometrists. Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network has a vision of healthy and thriving rural communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. We strongly support the proposed changes as they will contribute to achieving this vision.

Rural Hospital Summit 2023 – What’s happened since then?

Te Whatu Ora leaders' presentation about their plans for a Rural Hospital Sustainability Project was well received but as far as we know, has not gained the traction we'd hoped for - most likely as the Hospital and Specialist services team are carrying a massive workload. However, this is no consolation for the NGO rural hospitals and rural general practices who provide medical services in their co-located Te Whatu Ora hospital. A letter from them to Margie Apa, asked her to urgently address the financial and clinical risks they face because their funding does not allow them to achieve pay parity for their clinical staff.