Fiona Cassie

Creating a primary care arm of Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora could open up access to unenrolled patients and boost GP retention, says Resident Doctors Association secretary Deborah Powell

Creating a primary care arm of Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora could open up access to unenrolled patients and boost GP retention, says Resident Doctors Association secretary Deborah Powell

The long-awaited urgent-care centre in Rangiora is nearing completion without a funding contract, while Rolleston has secured Te Whatu Ora support for after-hours care

Just over 300 of the 400 funded places for new graduate nurses under the Government’s funding incentive scheme for primary and community care employers were filled in 2025/26

Specialist GP numbers increased more slowly than the wider medical workforce in 2025/26, while the average age of the group fell, according to the latest Medical Council statistics

New contracts have put urgent-care services in Nelson and Marlborough on a sustainable footing. But elsewhere, providers continue to absorb losses while waiting for Te Whatu Ora and ACC to agree on funding, reports Fiona Cassie

Southern correspondent Fiona Cassie got in touch with Kaikōura Healthcare after the practice was named as finalist for the Ka Ora Telecare Rural General Practice of the Year Award in this year’s New Zealand Primary Healthcare Awards

A new daytime urgent care service for Invercargill is ticked off as “successfully implemented” despite not being underway, and new priority services for Tauranga and Timaru are delayed

If you want to find a “poster town” for what happens when PHO policy is stuck in limbo, look no further than the mid-Canterbury town of Ashburton

The PHO for Nelson and Tasman returned to the black in 2024/25 despite its jointventure urgent and after-hours clinic making a loss for the second-year running