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Rural health is never short of important issues to tackle, and there are always opportunities to connect with communities, hear their experiences and advocate for better outcomes.

One of the things I value most about this work is connecting with the next generation of clinicians and leaders. Engaging with medical students at events such as the New Zealand Medical Students’ Association conference is a great opportunity to encourage them to consider a future in rural health. The passion and energy of these students is inspiring, and it is reassuring to see such strong interest in making a meaningful difference in our communities.

Events such as Fieldays also provide a valuable opportunity to connect directly with people from both rural and urban communities. Working alongside Mobile Health in the Hauora Taiwhenua Health and Wellbeing Hub at Mystery Creek, we hear first-hand about people’s experiences of accessing healthcare and the challenges they face. It is striking how many people have not connected with primary care for some time. These conversations reinforce the importance of championing proactive healthcare and improving access, particularly in rural communities where getting care is not always straightforward.

Students play an important role in these conversations, bringing energy and fresh perspectives to community engagement. Medical and nursing students help create a welcoming environment where people feel comfortable talking about their health, while activities and informal conversations can open the door to more meaningful discussions about wellbeing and access to care.

Political engagement is another important part of ensuring rural communities are heard. Bringing political representatives together to discuss rural health provides an opportunity to ask difficult questions and seek clear commitments on the issues that matter to rural providers and communities. While political perspectives may differ, there is often common ground on the need to improve access, address workforce challenges and support sustainable rural health services. The challenge is turning that shared intent into meaningful action.

Primary care funding remains a particularly important issue for rural health. Changes to the capitation funding model, including the introduction of rurality into funding calculations, represent progress towards recognising the financial pressures facing general practice and the additional costs associated with delivering care in rural communities. The updated model is an important step, but there is still work to do to ensure funding is fair, sustainable and reflects the realities of rural service delivery.

Continued engagement with Health New Zealand will be important to address outstanding rural funding issues and advocate for further improvements, including the consideration of ethnicity in future capitation funding reviews. Funding decisions need to recognise the different circumstances of the communities our health services support and enable providers to deliver the care people need.

Ultimately, advocacy is about ensuring rural communities are not overlooked. By listening to people’s experiences, supporting the future rural health workforce and engaging with decision-makers, we can continue to push for a health system that better reflects the needs of rural Aotearoa.

Thank you to everyone working across the rural health sector. Your commitment, knowledge and work in your communities are essential to building a stronger future for rural health.