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NZ Rural General Practice Network chair Dr Fiona Bolden.
Dr Fiona Bolden says the rural health services are under huge pressure.
She says there are plenty of places where you can't even see a GP at all and adds that rural hospitals are having real difficulty trying to see people.
Bolden says many in the rural health workforce are coming up for retirement and have just about had enough. But she says many are staying on out of a sense of responsibility to their communities and many are burnt out.
"The rural health service is limping along on the good will of its people and is further complicated by what's happening with nursing," she told Rural News. "Nurses working in practices get paid far less than those working for the DHBs and practices get no funding for nurses."
Rural News did approach the Minister of Health's office for comment, but they did not respond.
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.
A huge reduction in ACC claims from on-farm accidents over the last five years is due to thousands of small, practical decisions being made in sheds, yards, paddocks and around kitchen tables across the country, says Safer Farms ambassador Lindy Nelson.
Grace Su, a recent optometry graduate from the University of Auckland, is moving to Tauranga to start work in a practice where she worked while participating in the university's Rural Health Interprofessional Programme (RHIP).
In an ever-changing world, things never stay completely the same. Tropical jungles can turn into concrete ones criss-crossed by motorways, or shining cities collapse into ghost towns.
The Government wants to make sure that rural communities get a level of service that people who live in cities often complacently expect.
Now in its fourth year, the 2026 Fencing Industry Awards, formed part of the proceedings of the FCANZ Conference, held in Nelson during August.
DairyNZ deputy chair Cameron Henderson has been re-appointed unopposed for another term.
OPINION: The stats speak for themselves.
Farms across the upper North Island are trialling different pasture mixes as part of a research programme that aims to build greater resilience into farming systems.
Election years are always a concerning time for farmers, according to DairyNZ chair Tracy Brown.
The Ballance Farm Environment Awards are coming to the West Coast of the South Island.
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