18 Jun 2018

Rural doctors argue for share of tourist tax

From Morning Report, 7:51 am on 18 June 2018

It's not just toilets and carparks that are under pressure from the tourism boom - but critical health services are also stretched to breaking point. The Rural GP Network is arguing some of the proposed Tourist Tax should go to the nationwide network of doctors and nurses who are called out to rural emergencies. The service runs on a budget of $1.8 million and doctors say they're often having to pay out of their own pockets to do this life-saving work. A GP in Waimate in Canterbury, Sarah Creegan, is one of them. She talks to Susie Ferguson.