Concerns over Pasifika healthcare access in Aotearoa

RNZ News

a day ago

The Fono chief executive Tevita Funaki
Photo:
Dominic Godfrey / RNZ Pacific
The chief executive of The Fono, New Zealand's largest Pacific health provider, has raised concern about Pasifika healthcare access in the Budget.
Fiugalu Tevita Funaki told
PMN
there are some wins and some concerns in
the country's 2025 budget
.
"I think primary care for us is around access. There are some significant issues around access and even looking at some of the baseline funding to alleviate some of the issues within primary care is actually not in there."
Fiugalu said any money towards after-hours care is important. He said there are some Auckland practices delivering after-hours care, but it was important to be in an area where Pasifika live and can easily access. He said the literacy around how to access care is also important.
He acknowledged the issues with
overcrowding at Middlemore Hospital
and said there's no doubt Pasifika tend to go to secondary care like hospitals rather than primary care in winter.
"My view around health is that the investments to reduce the burdens on secondary care, where the cost is actually huge, is investments around primary care and investments around preventive medicines."
Fiugalu said The Fono's relationships with Pacific clients at the primary care level support the view that investments in primary care eases the pressure on secondary care.
"This is why I'm going to flag around the lack of investments into primary care, because that's where the preventative measures, the ongoing engagements with our families, [is] actually happening - at the primary care level."
Minister of Health, Simeon Brown, argues the 2025 Budget "provided a significant boost" to primary care, "to make it easier for patients to see a doctor, and avoid unnecessary hospital visits".
In a statement, he said this included NZ$285 million in performance-based funding over three years, to support primary practice to be more accessible for patients and deliver more services in the community; and NZ$447 million in 24/7 digital health services, after-hours and urgent care, and more funding for training doctors and nurses to work in primary care.
Brown told RNZ Pacific his priority is ensuring that "all New Zealanders have access to timely, quality healthcare".
"I am advised that Health New Zealand's Pacific Health Group is working closely with their Pacific provider partners to prioritise the health of Pacific communities.
"Health New Zealand advises me that there are several campaigns targeting Pacific communities and families to alert them to the best ways to prioritise and manage their health, and to navigate the health system this winter.
"These include Pacific language resources and translation services, and programmes run with Pacific health providers including The Fono."
New Zealand's Pacific peoples minister says Pasifika people
should see themselves in the Government's 2025 budget
.
"It is an economic growth agenda and Pasifika people will benefit from economic growth."