Whangārei Hospital got another boost in Budget 2022 for its rebuild, which Northland DHB chief executive Dr Nick Chamberlain said will help reduce health inequities. Photo / Tania Whyte
Whangārei Hospital got another boost in Budget 2022 for its rebuild, which Northland DHB chief executive Dr Nick Chamberlain said will help reduce health inequities. Photo / Tania Whyte
Health was the big winner in what Finance Minister Grant Robertson called New Zealand's "fourth wellbeing budget," with $11.1 billion over four years put aside.
Whangārei Hospital
The Budget 2022 included critical funding for Whangārei Hospital so that the first stage of the redevelopment can be completed.
The Government setaside $572 million for the new hospital in Budget 2021 and further funding has been reserved in this Budget once Northland District Health Board submits a business case for the extra work needed for the ageing hospital.
The redeveloped hospital is expected to provide an acute services building, including an emergency department, intensive care unit, radiology and theatre suite, a new children's health unit and whānau house.
Northland DHB chief executive Dr Nick Chamberlain was delighted to hear the Budget included the Whangārei Hospital rebuild.
"The funding announced today is a great start and will help get the acute services building built, but we will need more over the next couple of years to build a ward tower and retire the 66-year-old surgical ward block, which is past end-of-life.
"Officials are well aware of this, and we are still aiming and planning to have the acute services block and the ward tower built together and completed by 2030."
Northland DHB and the Ministry of Health have been investigating large-scale options for addressing these issues since 2015.
Health Minister Andrew Little meets with Northland DHB chief executive Dr Nick Chamberlain at Whangārei Hospital last year. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Whangārei list MP and National Party health spokesman Dr Shane Reti said he was pleased with the commitment of funds to Whangārei Hospital, but voiced concerns about the infrastructure plans.
"I am hearing on-site that they are being told by the Government they will have to downsize and cut back on beds."
Health Minister Andrew Little said he had not seen the final design and he was not aware of the possible downsizing.
"I haven't heard that at all, all I know is that there's been work going on for some time ... and we're now down to the final stages," said Little.
An investment of $166.1m over four years has been set aside for ambulance services, which Dr Reti wants to see directed towards Northland.
"My hope and lobbying in the Budget will be for Northland to get some of the frontline ambulance staff and vehicles," Reti said.
Māori health
This Budget includes a whopping $579.9m for initiatives to support Māori health and wellbeing to address long-standing inequity in the health of Māori people.
That includes $30m to support Māori primary and community care providers and $20.1m to support Iwi-Māori Partnership Boards.
The Government said the funding acknowledges the critical role Māori health providers and health workers played in the response to Covid-19 and that they will be central to reforming the health system.
Te Rūnanga o Whaingaroa pou ārahi (spokesman), Raniera Kaio, said the Budget was "heartening" in terms of iwi and Māori health providers, but he needed more detail to be reassured that rural Northland will be supported.
"Being a very rurally-based Māori health provider we want to make sure those allocations are fairly spread, and we're not spread thin as we have been in the past."
Te Rūnanga o Whaingaroa pou ārahi Raniera Kaio emphasised the issues his hometown Kaeo faces with a lack of rural healthcare workers. Photo / Supplied
Kaio was pleased Whangārei Hospital is getting "much-needed" funding - but emphasised that the hospital is still a two-hour drive from his rural community, Kaeo.
A $39m pot is allocated for Māori health workforce development, and Kaio wants to see that spent on training health workers in rural areas, so they stay there.
"A big part of being a rural Māori health provider is having a rural-centric workforce, which means we need a rural-centric health training facility."
The Government's Health NZ system takes over the books from the 20 DHBs on July 1, and the Budget outlines $168m for the Māori Health Authority for direct commissioning of services, aiming to ensure the new health system works well for Māori.
"It's a start, our iwi for one is very encouraged by the concept of the Māori Health Authority."
Mental health and addiction
The Budget included a $100m investment over four years for a specialist mental health and addiction package.
Te Hiku Iwi Development Trust chairwoman Rhonda Kite said the Health Minister has moved resources in the right direction, and she called for system changes to address the root cause of mental health and addiction issues.
"A capacity that is 'working on the margin' rather than 'working on the core issue' will never bring us the wellbeing we deserve, and that's why the increase in the mental health dollar is warmly applauded."
The Far North, specifically Kaitaia where Te Hiku Iwi is based, has the highest number of recorded mental health-related police callouts in the 12 months to May 2021.
"We are seeing a rise in methamphetamine-related harm, alcohol harm, and we need to advocate for more relationship services."
Funding has been secured to expand Mana Ake services, promoting wellbeing and positive mental health for primary and intermediate school-aged students in Northland.
Primary health
A $102m investment into primary health is earmarked to take pressure off hospitals and expand community healthcare services, including physiotherapists, pharmacists and social workers.
Whangārei GP Dr Tim Cunningham said that the money was missing the mark.
"It seems the primary-care coalface is being ignored," Cunningham said.
"The huge crisis in the general practice workforce looks to have been ignored. Middle management appears to be bolstered."
Whangārei GP Dr Tim Cunningham isn't confident the money for primary health will go far enough in rural Northland. Photo / Michael Cunningham
He said it is as if Wellington does not understand the crisis in the regions. "Such an opportunity lost."
Another $37m over four years will cover training costs for 1500 primary health workers, such as nurses and pharmacists, and $39m over four years will be invested into training Hauora Māori health training.
How much of that money Northland will receive is not clear yet.
Cunningham said the devil was in the detail and in regions such as Northland, primary health workers needed more incentives to work in rural areas, where the biggest shortages are rooted.
