First Rural Urgent Care Rollout Completed Across Six Communities

The initiative is supported by a $164 million investment in Budget 2025 to strengthen urgent and after-hours care across the country.

The rollout of enhanced urgent and after-hours healthcare services has been completed across six rural and remote communities, marking the first phase of a nationwide programme to strengthen access to care closer to home, Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey announced today.

The completed sites — Golden Bay, Tūrangi, Twizel, Te Kūiti, Coromandel and Great Barrier Island — have been used to pilot new models of rural urgent care that will now inform service expansion across up to 70 rural locations nationwide.

“Access to healthcare is one of the biggest concerns for people living in rural and remote areas,” Mr Doocey says. “Our Government is committed to ensuring New Zealanders can get the care they need, when they need it, no matter where they live.”

$164 Million Investment to Improve Nationwide Access

The initiative is supported by a $164 million investment in Budget 2025 to strengthen urgent and after-hours care across the country. Once fully rolled out, the programme is expected to ensure that 98 per cent of New Zealanders can access urgent or after-hours care within one hour’s drive of their home.

The six pilot locations have played a critical role in shaping how rural services are designed, allowing solutions to be tailored to the realities of distance, workforce constraints, and local health needs.

Innovative Models Deliver Faster, More Local Care

Across the six sites, a range of new and expanded services have already been implemented, delivering faster diagnosis, reducing unnecessary hospital transfers, and strengthening local clinical capacity.

Key improvements include:

• Point-of-care blood testing at all sites, enabling clinicians to run essential tests immediately rather than waiting for samples to be transported or sending patients to hospital.

• Point-of-care ultrasound introduced across all locations, with 16 rural clinicians trained to use the equipment, supporting quicker clinical decisions and fewer transfers.

• Improved access to after-hours medicines, with Tūrangi and Twizel now offering on-call pharmacy services through telehealth and local pharmacists.

• Expanded ambulance support, including 24/7 coverage in Twizel over the holiday period, alongside ongoing work with Hato Hone St John on long-term solutions for the Mackenzie District.

• Integrated rural urgent care workforce models, with Extended Care Paramedics embedded in local teams in Golden Bay and Great Barrier Island, boosting urgent care capacity and easing pressure on small practices.

“People in rural areas often travel long distances for care and rely on small teams covering large regions,” Mr Doocey says. “Already, this first phase shows the difference locally led approaches can make — with faster care, better access to treatment, and stronger coordination between services.”

Expansion to 30 More Rural Locations This Year

Building on the success of the initial rollout, a further 30 rural locations will have their urgent and after-hours services strengthened this year. Planned improvements include expanding point-of-care testing and ultrasound, increasing access to after-hours medicines, and scaling integrated paramedic support models.

“The results from the first six sites show what’s possible when rural providers are supported to design solutions that work for their communities,” Mr Doocey says. “The momentum from this phase will help strengthen urgent and after-hours care for years to come.”

Strengthening the Rural Health Workforce

The programme complements wider efforts to build a sustainable rural health workforce, including the development of rural training hubs and the establishment of a new medical school at the University of Waikato.

Together, these initiatives aim to improve health outcomes, reduce inequities in access to care, and ensure rural communities have resilient, future-focused health services.