Primary Health Care

Media Releases

2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003

2007
More support for free doc's visits for under-6s (27 August) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
More families are set to benefit from free doctor's visits for their children aged under six following an $8.25 million investment by the Labour-led government, Health Minister Pete Hodgson announced today.

Lower fees to see the Doctor (27 August) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
Almost 1 million New Zealanders are now paying $0- $15.50 to see their doctor but additional money announced today may encourage more practices to join the “Very Low Cost” scheme, Health Minister Pete Hodgson said today.

Affordable primary health care a Government priority (6 June) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
Extra money is being offered Primary Health Organisation practices that maintain very low fees for their patients, Health Minister Pete Hodgson announced today.

2005
PHOs now eligible for additional management services assistance (7 July )
PHOs with enrolled populations of 40,000 or fewer will be eligible receive a share of $3 million worth of new funding from this month onwards.

Primary health money rolled out to 18 to 24-year-olds (30 June) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
Health Minister Annette King and Prime Minister Helen Clark have announced that 18 to 24 year olds will benefit from the rollout of lower cost visits to the doctor and lower standard prescription charges from 1 July.

Agreement will lower GP fees for 18 - 24 year olds (8 June)
Joint Ministry and GP leaders release on 1 July rollout of funding

Low cost health care visits for 18 to 24 year olds (19 May) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
Annette King's Budget announcement

Ministry welcomes Consumers' Institute survey (20 March)

Management Services Report released (12 March)
The Ministry of Health today released the Review of Primary Health Organisation Management Services report

Working Party update from March meeting (11 March)

King announces more primary nursing scholarships (10 March) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
A new round of postgraduate scholarships for primary health care nurses has been announced by Health Minister Annette King.

Annette King's opening speech at the Primary Focus 2 Conference (10 March)

Manawatu PHO completes nationwide coverage (1 January)
The formation today of a large Primary Health Organisation in Manawatu means all major centres in New Zealand are now covered by the new organisations, says Health Minister Annette King.

2004
Govt to fund five more rural nurse scholarships (22 December) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
The government will fund five more rural nursing scholarships in 2005 to improve access to primary health care in rural areas.

Revealed: better health outcomes for all (20 December)
The roll-out of Primary Health Organisations is contributing to advances in the battle to reduce health inequalities.
This is one of the findings in the Ministry of Health's annual Health and Independence Report 2004 which documents the performance of the health sector and the state of public health in New Zealand.

King welcomes international primary health care report (29 October)t (www.beehive.govt.nz)
Health Minister Annette King, who is attending the Commonwealth Fund?s annual meeting in Washington, is welcoming the Fund?s report showing New Zealand scores highly on speedy access to primary health care and the quality of doctor-patient relationships. Read the report on the Commonwealth Fund's website (www.cmwf.org)

$10.9 million funding boost for rural health (14 October) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
Associate Health Minister Damien O?Connor today announced a $10.9 million annual funding boost to help rural areas retain GPs, nurses and other health workers.

Ministry of Health announces working party to tackle after-hours issues (8 October 2004)
A health sector working party is to be established to look into after-hours issues so that all New Zealanders can be sure of 24-hour primary health care.

Annette King welcomes 100,000 more New Zealanders into PHOs (1 October) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
Another 100,000 New Zealanders from today become part of the biggest change in primary health care in more than half a century, says Health Minister Annette King.

Research confirms doctor's visits more affordable for two million New Zealanders (19 August)
The Ministry of Health today released research that shows Primary Health Organisation (PHO) family doctor visits have become more affordable for half the country's population.

Ministry of Health welcomes new taskforce chairman (21 July 2004)
Canterbury public health physician Winston McKean has been appointed as chairman of the Primary Health Care Strategy and PHO Development Taskforce.

More affordable primary health care for all in PHOs (16 July) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
All New Zealanders belonging to Primary Health Organisations - currently over 3.5 million people - will be entitled to cheaper primary health care such as doctors? visits and prescriptions by July 2007, up to five years earlier than first anticipated.

King welcomes reduced costs for older New Zealanders (1 July) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
More than 305,000 older New Zealanders, who belong to a Primary Health Organisation, will now pay less when they visit their family doctor, says Health Minister Annette King

2.5 Million New Zealanders now covered by PHOs (5 January) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
Health Minister Annette King says Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) are going from strength to strength, with about 2.5 million New Zealanders now covered nationwide.

2003

Ministry of Health announces management fees increase for Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) (11 November)
The Ministry of Health today announced a management fee funding increase for small to medium-sized Primary Health Organisations (PHOs).
See also our PHO management fees page

One in four New Zealanders has access to low-cost primary health care (1 October) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
Health Minister Annette King says more than two million New Zealanders belong to Primary Health Organisations from today, with more than one in four New Zealanders now having access to low-cost primary health care.

Low-cost primary health care for older New Zealanders enrolled in PHOs (16 September) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
The Government is accelerating a $47 million nationwide initiative to make primary health care more affordable for older New Zealanders enrolled in Primary Health Organisations (PHOs).

Further moves to lower cost of primary health care (1 May) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
Health Minister Annette King and Progressive Coalition Leader Jim Anderton today announced a $19.8 million funding initiative that will allow all Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) to charge low fees for patients under 18 years from October 1.

Agreement reached on Primary Health Organisation detail (9 May) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
Health Minister Annette King and the spokesperson for a group of General Practice Leaders, Dr Paul McCormack, say one of the last sticking points delaying some general practice groups becoming Primary Health Organisations has been resolved.

Twenty two new Primary Health Organisations begin (31 March) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
Health Minister Annette King says one in four New Zealanders, about a million people, will receive their primary health care through Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) from tomorrow.

More than 180 nurses receive primary health scholarships (6 February) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
Health Minister Annette King says 183 nurses will develop their primary health care knowledge through a $850,000 Government postgraduate scholarship fund.

More New Zealanders get better health deal from January (1 January) (www.beehive.govt.nz)
Health Minister Annette King says nearly half a million New Zealanders will get a broader range of primary health care services, many of them more cheaply, from 1 January 2003.

More Ministry of Health media releases

Page last updated: 3 March 2008