Rural Health Policy recognition of special needs

Health Minister Bill English said the release today of a Rural Health Policy was recognition of the particular health needs facing rural people.

"The Rural Health Policy is important because it is the first time that the Government has set out exactly what is happening in rural health and what it expects to see happening in the future. It is reassurance for rural people that the Government does take their health needs seriously.

"It is also recognition that the Government has to put a special effort in to building a sustainable health service for rural communities. More is spent on providing health services in rural areas and that will continue, although work is underway to see if we can spend the extra more effectively to get better services.

"Rural people have the same health needs as people in urban centres and should be able to access a full range of services. However, it can be much harder for them to reach health services.

"A key objective for rural health is ensuring we have good accident and emergency coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week, right across the country. At the moment I would say our coverage is about 90 percent because not all services are well coordinated, and it needs to be 100 percent.

"Another key objective is to make sure we have doctors and nurses with the right skills working in rural areas who are keen to stay. The training, recruitment and retention of health professionals is a real issue in some rural areas and that is an area where urgent work needs to happen," he said.

The policy outlines four key features of the changes happening in rural areas:

the development of non-medical services such as disability support, home support, and mental health services. In the past rural people often missed out on these services, but they are now much more widely available.

Hospital services have changed, with a greater role for rural health centres. The Rural Health Policy sits alongside the Hospital Services Plan, which makes it clear that the current distribution of hospital services will not change over the next three years and that the Government is prepared to pay a rural premium to ensure services remain in the smaller centres.

the need to build up skills among health professionals working in rural areas. Nurses and GPs are taking on a greater role and the skills required to work in rural areas are changing and will continue to change.

developments in information technology and the increasing use of telemedicine, which have the potential to make quite significant changes to rural health services. Travelling time could be cut with diagnosis done from the GP clinic or health centre, and telemedicine could be an important training tool for doctors and nurses.
"Rural people, like anyone else, want certainty about their health services.

"Building good rural health services is about building a comprehensive range of services to meet the needs of each community in the community, and then ensuring there are clear linkages with services in larger centres when people have to travel. This is what the Government is working towards," he said.

Mr English said the Rural Health Policy pulled together existing policy and developments in the sector that affected rural people. It was a consultation document because the Government wanted input especially from people who lived and worked in rural communities. A final policy document would be published at the end of February.

Comments on the draft policy should be sent to Rural Health Policy, Ministry of Health, PO Box 5013, Wellington, by 3 December 1998.