Te Tai o Poutini West Coast has received accreditation to deliver Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) Training, Associate Health Minister, Matt Doocey, announced today.
The Minister said the accreditation was great news for the West Coast and would help boost the number of doctors trained with the skills needed to support rural communities.
“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,” said Mr Doocey.
“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.”
He said generalism was particularly important in rural settings, where multiple specialties were 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,” said Mr Doocey.
