Hon Matt Doocey
Associate Minister of Health

In another step towards improving New Zealand’s rural health workforce, Te Tai o Poutini West Coast has just received accreditation to deliver Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) Training, Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey says.

“This accreditation is great news for the West Coast and will help boost the number of doctors trained with the skills needed to support our rural communities,” Mr Doocey says.

“Being an accredited ACRRM training location means the West Coast can look to attract both New Zealand and Australian graduates while continuing to develop its rural generalist model.

“One of the five priorities of the National Rural Health Strategy is to create a valued and flexible rural health workforce and training young doctors to be rural generalists will support the delivery of this priority.

“Generalism is particularly important in rural settings because multiple specialties are not readily accessible or clinically sustainable for those who live remotely.

“A rural generalist can sustainably manage a broad and varied patient cohort and community need profile, while working within clinical networks of care to ensure patients get access to specialist teams if and when they need them. This has the benefit of reducing the need for patient travel by keeping care delivery local.

Last month, the Government awarded scholarships to 27 health care students to boost the future rural health workforce.

“All New Zealanders deserve timely access to quality health care and this Government is committed to improving health outcomes, particularly for the one in five living in our rural communities.

“We know access to health care within rural communities, or being supported to access care when required, are key issues for rural communities. To improve access and rural health outcomes we need to invest in growing the rural health workforce.”

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