The Government has announced plans for a new rural healthcare training hub to be opened in South Taranaki as part of a larger programme to aid rural healthcare gaps but some are critical of its efficacy.
The Government has announced plans for a new rural healthcare training hub to be opened in South Taranaki as part of a larger programme to aid rural healthcare gaps but some are critical of its efficacy.
South Taranaki will get the first of four new rural training hubs for healthcare workers.
The hub will offer training and accommodation and allow trainees to collaborate while being integrated into the community.
Participants will include trainee doctors, nurses, midwives, allied health workers and assisted living healthcareworkers (kaiāwhina).
Students from existing programmes, including the fifth-year medical students on a one-year Rural Medical Immersion programme from the University of Auckland, will continue their training at Hāwera Hospital as part of the new hub.
“The hubs are part of our broader plan to strengthen rural healthcare and grow the rural health workforce so we are able to ensure New Zealanders get timely access to the care they need, no matter where they live,” Associate Health Minister with responsibility for rural health Matt Doocey said.
South Taranaki Mayor Phil Nixon says the training hub will help fill gaps.
“We just really need more medical support here.”
But Te Tai Hauāuru MP and Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngārewa-Packer said there were urgent current health issues that needed addressing, not just the long-term, including waiting lists and safety issues.
“We have nurses that are burnt out, we see doctors that are striking, we can’t retain doctors,” she said.
“What we needed to hear from the Government is what they’re doing about that.”
The Government announcement said local communities and iwi would be involved in the design of the programme.
Ngārewa-Packer said she was sceptical of this and there were similar services already provided by iwi-run programmes.
“They’ve got iwi-led recruitment, the ability to employ directly and build workplaces grounded within their own tikanga and cultural safety. They don’t need to wait for Wellington bureaucracy,” she said.
Instead, she said there needed to be more funding put into the pre-existing programmes, and more focused efforts to increase retention of staff.
“I think that’s sad that they’ve zoomed through our community, had these photo opportunities, put in something that, again, is a long-term solution,” Ngārewa-Packer said.
Whanganui National MP Carl Bates said the Government did have a range of short-term policies in addition to the training hub announcement.
“I think announcements such as this and having additional resources where we’re focusing on the long-term shouldn’t be a criticism,” Bates said.
A new 24/7 Telehealth service would make primary care available remotely and at all hours.
He said there has been a record funding boost for GPs of $175 million and this had improved funding for local iwi healthcare organisations Bates met with last week in Hāwera.
“We’ve restored health targets to ensure that the Government has up-to-date data on where struggles may exist and then the Government’s responding to those. This is a really positive step,” Bates said.
“If locally we can continue their [iwi healthcare groups] great work and the rural training hub can retain health professionals, that will be a win-win for South Taranaki and for health across New Zealand.”
Nixon said it would be important for current medical staff at South Taranaki health facilities to receive additional support.
“Our medical staff there are pretty tapped out already with what they’re doing,” he said.
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora would hire a locally connected person to facilitate the hub and help address resource needs as they arose.
“I’m sure that there will be appropriate support provided as they work through the design of how the Rural Training Hub will work to the benefit of both our local community and the healthcare workforce,” Bates said.
