Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford said Health New Zealand will decide on where the new 24/7 urgent healthcare service will be in Tauranga. Photo / Alex Cairns
Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford said Health New Zealand will decide on where the new 24/7 urgent healthcare service will be in Tauranga. Photo / Alex Cairns
Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford will be “pushing really hard” for Tauranga’s new 24/7 urgent healthcare service to be in the fast-growing suburb of Pāpāmoa.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Health Minister Simeon Brown said in a pre-Budget announcement on Sunday that Tauranga would gain a new 24/7 urgent healthcare service by mid-2026.
Rutherford and Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell said in a joint statement on Sunday that the new Tauranga service would deliver faster, more accessible urgent care closer to home.
Asked how likely it was for the new clinic to be in Pāpāmoa, Rutherford told the Bay of Plenty Times on Monday that Health NZ was working through a negotiation phase and trying to find the “appropriate provider locally” for the service.
He said Pāpāmoa was the “fastest-growing suburb” in Tauranga and was home to about 40,000 people.
“We need after-hours and emergency care on this side of town as well, so I’ll be pushing really hard for that, but that’s ultimately a decision for Health NZ to make.”
Rutherford said the previous Health Minister Shane Reti and Brown had “both heard a lot from me” about ensuring the Pāpāmoa and Mount Maunganui communities were “adequately served”.
The only options for after-hours or emergency care were Accident and Healthcare on Second Avenue in Tauranga or Tauranga Hospital, he said.
Rutherford said he had informed the Health Minister of this “and I’ll continue to beat the drum on that”.
“The community elected me ... to stand up and fight for them and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
Health Minister Simeon Brown (left) and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced $164 million for new 24/7 urgent care services at East Care in Botany on May 18. Photo / Dean Purcell
Rutherford said he was proud to be part of a government which was investing significantly in health - a record $16.68 billion across three Budgets.
“We know having access to timely and quality healthcare is really important for people ... that’s why we’re making announcements like we’ve done and we’ll continue to put more funding into it but also ensuring we’ve got a good workforce as well to be able to service it too.”
Uffindell - also the Health Committee chairman - said as a father of three young children, it was a “huge relief and breakthrough” to get further 24/7 urgent care in Tauranga.
“I’m really honoured to be able to deliver better outcomes for our community, to relieve pressure on Tauranga Hospital, and have the assurance we can get 24/7 urgent care.”
The clinic’s founder told the Bay of Plenty Times at the time that it had seen 10,000 patients but needed double that or extra funding to be financially sustainable, and the decision to close was “the hardest thing”.
Health NZ said Consult365 was not eligible for capitation funding – payments based on patient enrolments – because it was not set up as a general practice.
It recognised there was “no consistent approach” to funding urgent care services and was looking into “future potential models” for this.
The Government’s pre-Budget announcement also detailed new 24/7 urgent care services for Counties Manukau, Whangārei, Palmerston North, and Dunedin, and new daytime urgent care services in Lower Hutt, Invercargill, and Timaru — among other investments.
The Budget invested $164 million across four years into urgent and after-hours care nationwide.
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.
