The Government will bolster Pharmac's budget by an extra $160 million to ensure NZ has access to more medicines and vaccines.
The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted years of under-funding and where long-term public health investment is needed, says Bay health officials and advocates.
Budget 2020 will be delivered on Thursday and many will be looking closely at the primary healthcare sector's allotment after Covid-19.
Pre-budget announcements have included new acute mentalhealth facilities for both Tauranga and Whakatāne hospitals, as well as a $160m increase over four years for Pharmac's budget to buy medicines, vaccines, medical devices and other treatments.
Western Bay of Plenty PHO's practice services general manager Phil Back said the GP network was "well supported by the PHO during the Covid-19 lockdown".
"They have done an amazing job despite the problem that extra funding support from the Government was not forthcoming as expected."
Back said primary health care GPs had to be work quite differently to deliver their services to patients particularly as people were told to "stay in their bubbles".
He appreciated this year's Budget would be "particularly challenging" for the Government given the economic impacts of the pandemic.
"But our hope is the Government's funding priorities will include significant funding support for our primary care GP practices," he said.
Back said he could see some GP practices already battling a significant financial disruption would struggle to maintain their level of service without a funding injection.
The lockdown provided the opportunity for the PHO to consider whether any traditionally hospital-based services that could be transitioned to a community-based setting.
"If you really want to stop people turning up at accident and emergency departments when they should visit their GP, you need to put more funding into medical practices."
Toi Te Ora Public Health medical officers of health Dr Jim Miller and Dr Phil Shoemack, shared their Budget wishlist in a recent article in the NZ Medical Journal.
Dr Phil Shoemack, a medical officer of health at Toi Te Ora Public Health. Photo / File
Dr Miller, Dr Shoemack and two colleagues said the Covid-19 response had exposed the "massive and hugely" problematic shortfall in New Zealand's public health investment.
Hundreds of extra health professionals had temporarily joined the Ministry of Health and public health units within district health boards to help out during the lockdown, but that required a "substantial emergency investment".
Dr Jim Miller, a medical officer of health at Toi Te Ora Public Health. Photo / File
The doctors said this emergency investment could not make up for more than a decade of under-resourcing and underfunding.
"Now the money has started to flow to public health, we need to maintain the financial momentum and make wise investment decisions."
The Toi Te Ora Public Health's medical officers of health are calling for a "long-term public health investment strategy" both for regions and nationally.
They said the strategy needed to be "co-designed" with public health professionals.
"Nationally we also need information systems that can capture all our data needs from clinical through to contact management. with 'real-time' monitoring and centralised reporting".
Mount Maunganui GP Tony Farrell said financial support for mental health and addiction - including more specialists - was needed in the Bay of Plenty.
Farrell is on the Mental Health Advisory Committee and said there were existing systems in place but funding from the last Budget had not trickled down to them.
"We haven't really seen money flow down to the mental health services primary care," he said.
He said a lot of people were on waiting lists for mental health support which were expected to grow as a result of Covid-19.
A rehabilitation and detox centre with wrap-around services for people battling addiction in Tauranga would also be beneficial to the community.
Former Bay of Plenty District Health Board chairman Sir Michael Cullen, who stepped down earlier this year after being diagnosed with cancer, said he did not expect to see any major Bay health initiatives in the Budget, given the Government's need to focus on jobs and the economy.
Interim board chairwoman Sharon Shea has also been contacted for comment.
