Shorecare Welcomes Initial Steps Towards Improved Urgent Care Funding — But More Is Needed

Shorecare acknowledges the Government’s announcement on
the 18th of May as a positive first step toward addressing
the chronic underfunding of urgent care services — an
essential move if we are to genuinely reduce pressure on our
emergency departments. The simple reality is this: emergency
department wait time targets cannot be achieved without 24/7
urgent care clinics operating as true partners in the
healthcare system.

While this funding announcement is
encouraging, it is largely focused on areas outside Auckland
and fails to address the significant shortfall in current
funding models. Bodies such as ACC continue to offer only
minimal increases — just 0.8% this year— a figure that
falls well short of what’s needed to keep clinics
viable.

There is also an element of irony in the
announcement of funding for a clinic in Counties Manukau,
given that Health New Zealand previously withdrew urgent
care funding from East Care in Botany — despite strong
advocacy in 2021 from local MPs, including the now-Prime
Minister Christopher Luxon and Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown,
who at the time described Auckland’s urgent care network
as a “mishmash of services.”

Shorecare hopes this
latest announcement signals the beginning of a more
coherent, sustainable funding strategy for urgent care
services across the country. Without this, New Zealand will
continue to see clinic closures, increasing co-payments and
widening gaps in
care.

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