increase font size
Dr Fiona Doolan-Noble says the proof will be in the pudding for those in rural areas after the government's healthcare reform announcement.
Rural people are underserviced by the current health model, according to Dr Fiona Doolan-Noble from the Department of General Practice and Rural Health at Otago University.
Doolan-Noble is a nurse with a PhD and who specialises in rural health issues says the focus of the reforms is really good for rural - given the large number of people who work outside urban areas.
"Rural communities are the backbone of NZ," she told Rural News. "More than 700,000 people live rurally so that makes rural NZ the second biggest city in the country and I hope going forward that they are not forgotten."
Doolan-Noble says the approach of the Government's reforms is hard to argue with, but like others who have a vested interest in the reforms, she says the detail and who sits around the table in a given locality will ultimately shape the outcome for communities. She adds that one of the issues to be addressed is that of dental care. She says this is a significant problem in areas such as the West Coast of the South Island.
Doolan-Noble says the changes will take time and the proof will be in the detail.
Sam Whitelock is an All Black rugby great, Farmstrong Ambassador and working dairy farmer in the Manawatu. Having stepped away from professional sport and returned to his roots on the family farm, he talks about balancing farm life with advocating for rural wellbeing.
The Minister for Rural Communities, Mark Patterson, says there's a massive infrastructure deficit in rural areas.
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (the College) and Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network are calling for investment in a proposed new training pathway for rural GPs, warning that many rural practices are struggling to recruit while a large share of the existing workforce nears retirement.
OPINION: In the 1980s, concern was expressed in West Germany about the falling birth rate. Some simple analysis was performed by Professor Helmut Sies, physician and biochemist at Dusseldorf University. His letter ‘A new parameter for sex education’ was published in Nature in 1988:
Celebrating 50 years in the rural landscape of Central Canterbury and beyond, Ashburton-based Carrfields, has been the exemplar for all aspects of modern agriculture via its extensive range of services including supply, growing, agronomic advice and marketing.
When dairy manager Miriam Lauridsen learned the farm, she was joining held weekly health and safety meetings, she initially thought that was “a bit over the top”. Experiencing that culture changed her mind.
Nominations are open for the 2027 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year Award.
Keeping up with pasture moisture demands is likely to be the key challenge for dairy farmers during this season’s El Niño weather pattern, says Blue Skies Weather & Climate Services meteorologist Tony Trewinnard.
Farmers have until the end of this week to help shape DairyNZ’s future focus.
Wayne McNee, chief executive of AgriZeroNZ, has resigned and will leave the organisation on 15 January 2027.
The New Zealand dairy sector set a record in the 2025/26 season, producing more than two billion kilograms of milksolids for the first time.
