Rural Hospitals Locum Service

Kia ora Hello!

The Rural Hospitals Locum Service (the Service) is a recruitment service to support rural hospitals across Aotearoa New Zealand to recruit, place, and retain appropriately qualified doctors. We provide a free service for rural hospitals and locums who would like to live and work in rural New Zealand.

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.

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.

We are part of the Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network, a collective organisation that advocates for rural health care. Our colleagues in the NZLocums & NZMedJobs team also provide a recruitment service for general practitioners and nurse practitioners.

“This service will be extremely well received by our rural hospitals who continue to deliver services to rural communities despite work-force shortages.” says Dr Grant Davidson, Chief Executive, Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network.

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 they serve. Working in a rural hospital will give you exposure to a diverse range of medical presentations allowing you to hone your skills as a physician in rural New Zealand! We can support you to get a placement in 1 of the 26 rural hospitals across New Zealand.

We have been busy travelling the country filming our rural hospitals to showcase their variety and their beautiful locations. As they say, “when you have seen one rural hospital, you’ve seen one rural hospital!” So, take a tour around the motu/country and be inspired. Enjoy.

Background of the Service.

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:

• reduce the financial and non-financial costs rural hospitals incur in recruiting locum doctors,
• make it easier for locum doctors to manage their calendars and plan to work across more than one rural hospital, and
• ease the pathway for internationally trained doctors to come to New Zealand to work in the rural hospital sector.

What we’re up to  

Connect with Us

You can contact us now at ruralhospitaldoctornz@htrhn.org.nz to learn more about working in rural New Zealand or complete the Expression of Interest Form by clicking here

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