The Government has announced $164 million in Budget 2025 to expand urgent and after-hours healthcare services across the country over the next four years, aiming to improve access and reduce pressure on hospitals.
New 24-hour urgent care services would be established in Auckland’s Counties Manukau and Dunedin by the end of 2025, Tauranga in 2026, and Whangārei and Palmerston North in 2027.
New and extended daytime urgent care services were expected to roll out in Lower Hutt in 2025, Invercargill and Timaru in 2026.
Trials of rural and remote services were planned to take place in Twizel, Tākaka, Tūrangi, Te Kūiti, Coromandel and Great Barrier Island this year before being rolled out to more than 70 locations nationwide in the next two years.
Existing urgent and after-hours healthcare services would be maintained across the country.
Five new 24-hour urgent care services and rural and remote services for more than 70 locations are to be delivered over the next four years. (Source: 1News)
Speaking at EastCare on Sunday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the Government had promised to prioritise frontline services to deliver the care that families relIied on every day.
“It’s about restoring faith in our healthcare system and making sure that patients come first.
“When a child’s fever spikes in the middle of the night, parents have somewhere to go without delay. When an elderly person duffers from a fall they won’t be left waiting in pain.”
Brown said strengthening urgent and after-hours care was an “important part” of the Government’s plan to ensure all New Zealanders had access to “timely, quality healthcare”.
“This means 98% of New Zealanders will be able to receive in-person urgent care within one hour’s drive of their homes,” Brown said.
“Around 5000 New Zealanders visit urgent care clinics every day, but the availability of after-hours services has declined in recent years, and access remains variable across the country.
Brown said the expansion of community-based urgent care would help ease pressure on hospitals and keep emergency departments wait times down for those with the most serious conditions.
“We’re taking action to ensure Kiwis can access the care they need, when and where they need it.”
Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey said access to healthcare was one of the biggest concerns for people living in rural and remote communities.
“This investment will bring healthcare closer to home for more people.”
He said rural New Zealanders deserved access to quality healthcare, and that the funding would reduce travel times, improve access, and take pressure off emergency departments.
“Geography shouldn’t be a barrier to getting the healthcare you need.”
Labour ‘pleased’, but more needed
Labour said it supported the Government’s funding announcement but it was not enough to fundamentally change how Kiwis access healthcare.
Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said she was “pleased” the announcement would help plug some of the gaps in the system but more was needed.
“What we’re not seeing is an integrated plan to really get New Zealanders early access to general practice and the treatment they need. The announcement are not at a scale to be able to transform the health system.”
She said it was a “moderate amount” of money for the goals set by the Government.
“It may not be [enough]. Labour will be watching closely to see that the Government does actually staff these clinics as they’ve promised.”