Following the pre-Budget announcement on rural and after-hours care, and the plethora of wide ranging workforce initiatives announced several months ago, Budget 2025 has fallen somewhat short for primary care. While we hoped for more, this year’s ‘fiscally restrained’ budget, is aptly named.

On behalf of Hauraki PHO, NHC and Pinnacle, we are seeking kaimahi, working in primary and community care who are interested in further education skills development or study support.

Pinnacle welcomes the focus on strengthening primary care access, investment in general practice, and commitments to digital health infrastructure.

Yesterday’s announcement in funding to boost primary care nursing is a well-deserved and much-needed investment in the sector. This initiative will help strengthen the workforce, improve access to care, and support the communities that rely on us.

Pinnacle welcomes the lowering of the age of eligibility for free bowel screening to 58 as a positive step toward earlier cancer detection, however, reallocating funding from the targeted Māori and Pasifika programme is inherently inequitable.

Pinnacle welcomes the government’s announcements this week of increased funding and workforce initiatives for general practice. Primary care is under immense pressure, with workforce shortages and financial constraints making it harder for practices to provide timely care.

Pinnacle is excited to reopen Kia Puāwai (our Māori and Pasifika Education Fund) for 2025. This fund, with a value of $15,000 (up to $5,000 each for up to three people), has been created to tautoko the continuous development and career progression of our Māori, and now also Pasifika, workforce.

It has been a tough year for health, and primary care in particular, but we are pleased to have identified opportunities to improve the way we fund our practices.

The summertime locum grant was established to help ease the pressure some rural practices face during the peak holiday season such as an influx of patients and the increased costs in attracting and accommodating locums during these peak periods. 

With the annual increase in funding for general practices falling well short of expectations, it’s difficult not to be cynical about the future of primary healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand.