The Rural Hospitals Locum Service (the Service) is a free service to support rural hospitals across Aotearoa New Zealand to recruit, place and retain locum doctors.
We are part of the Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network, which also provides a medical recruitment service for general practitioners and nurse practitioners through NZLocums & NZMedJobs.
The Service recognizes the specific requirements for rural hospital doctors’ medical registration and credentialling, immigration processes, and the extensive onboarding procedures. Additionally, it acknowledges the significant financial burden of recruiting medical staff locally and internationally.
In a commissioned report for the Ministry of Health | Manatū Hauora in July 2020, Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network reported that the recruitment and retention of medical staff is one the biggest challenges that rural hospitals face daily.
Rural hospitals are highly reliant on locum medical staff which requires a large investment of their time and budget to coordinate. Over the four years since the report was completed, rural hospitals have told us that the situation has worsened and the reliance on locum doctors has significantly increased.
In response to the report, Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora provided funding for the Network to design and implement the Service to recruit, place, and retain locum doctors in rural hospitals across the country.
The Service is free for rural hospitals and locums, and aims to:
More about Recruitment
About Us
Working with Us
Read more about Rural Hospitals in Aotearoa New Zealand
Current vacancies
Become a Member
We introduce domestic and international doctors from our pool of locums to be placed with rural hospitals either through direct engagement or, in limited circumstances, engagement by us as independent contractors on contracts for service.
For doctors already in New Zealand
Talk to us if you’re interested in becoming a locum at a rural hospital! You can also talk to the Division of Rural Hospital Medicine if you’re interested in specialising in rural health medicine (rnzcgp.org.nz).
For international doctors wanting to work in New Zealand
Below are some helpful links to read through if you’re interested in working in a rural hospital and living in New Zealand:
You can contact us now to learn more about working in rural New Zealand.
or
complete the Expression of Interest Form by clicking here
Rural Hospitals work closely with rural general practices, allied health, and other clinical and social support services to improve the health and wellbeing of the rural communities we live and work with.
Have you considered or are you considering working in a rural hospital?
This video showcasing one of the NZ rural hospital locations may be of interest.
New Zealand Rural Hospitals
Our locum service is free for prospective rural hospital doctors!
For rural hospital partners, there is no cost associated for us to find and place a doctor for you!
32nd Annual Rural and Remote Medicine Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada 24 April – 26 April 2025
Family Medicine 2024 (FMX2024) in Phoenix, Arizona USA 24 September – 28 September 2024. The conference organisers anticipate 4,5000 doctors to attend, and 2,000 other attendees or guests. Our goal for the conference is to get our name out there and entice some new doctors into making the move to New Zealand.
General Practice Conference & Medical Exhibition 2024 (GPCME South 24) in Christchurch New Zealand 15 August – 18 August 2024
Conference for General Practice 2024 (GP24) in Wellington New Zealand 25 July – 28 July 2024
Randal Benito started as the new Team Leader – Rural Hospitals Locum Services at the beginning of July 2024. He joined the Network after more than 5 years of working in the public service.
Since the end of May our team have been on the ground visiting rural hospitals around the country to introduce the Service and learn more about each hospital’s services and locum needs. These visits will continue into August, and we will endeavour to meet virtually with any hospital we are not able to visit. The hospitals have been supportive of the Service and the Network, whether they have a need for locums or not, and they have been grateful that we have taken the time to visit.
31st Annual Rural and Remote Medicine Conference in Edmonton, Alberta Canada 18 April – 20 April 2024
Our candidates are invited to attend our renowned three-day orientation course to get the best introduction to New Zealand’s health system.
Held monthly, our orientation course is the first step into the New Zealand health system for international doctors. The course is delivered on our virtual platform and is always well received by attendees.
This course is endorsed by The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) and is approved for up to 17.5 CME credits for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) purposes.
For more information and to sign-up for Orientation click the link here.
