Dana Kirkpatrick for East Cape

For people living on the East Coast, access to healthcare has always had an extra challenge: distance.

Whether you live in Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki, Te Kaha, Gisborne or one of our smaller rural communities, getting healthcare can mean travelling significant distances. That makes having reliable services close to home particularly important.

National’s health focus is on reducing waiting times, increasing the number of doctors and nurses, preventative actions and making decisions closer to patients and communities. Health New Zealand is moving more decision-making around workforce, budgets and service delivery closer to local hospitals and communities, so those making decisions are better placed to understand local needs.

That matters here.

In the Eastern Bay, restoring and strengthening services at Whakatāne Hospital is important, as is ensuring people can access urgent and after-hours care without having to travel unnecessarily. The expansion of after-hours care through services such as Rehua Medical is part of making sure people can get help when they need it.

Across the wider East Coast, mental health also remains an important part of the picture. Resilience cafés in Gisborne and Whakatāne are examples of locally based support that can provide an accessible point of connection for people who may otherwise struggle to find help. And we have invested in support for families dealing with fetal alcohol syndrome.

National has also reported increased numbers of doctors and nurses, expanded urgent and after-hours services, increased funding for general practice and investment in new medicines. We have committed $16b more over the four years than any other previous Government and we continue to signal increased spending in the years to come.

For our communities, the measure of any health policy is ultimately simple: can people get the care they need, when they need it, I will continue to work hard on this very issue for you because it is a priority for the East Cape.