25 May 2015

Call for more health funding for rural areas

9:14 am on 25 May 2015

A body representing the health sector in rural New Zealand is calling on the Government to make sure the funding boost from this year's budget reaches rural communities.

The Government announced an injection of $76 million to help hospices expand their care services and create 60 new nurse, education and support roles.

Rural General Practice Network's chief executive Dalton Kelly said he had hoped the budget would offer more for rural communities because of their vulnerability, caused by distance, and the time it takes for services to be accessed.

"Over 600,000 New Zealanders live in rural New Zealand and they're entitled to a health service that is as good as any where in the urban area."

Mr Kelly said no matter where in the country they were, those who are terminally ill should be able to access palliative care.

"It's never going to be easy, you know - isolation, distance, all those sorts of things, are not going to be an easy solve or an easy win.

"What we have to make sure is that when issues or when resources such as the new money for palliative care is announced, we need to make sure the rural community gets its share of the money."