Issues of women’s health in Southland and the connectivity between the urban and rural population were raised at the Rural Women New Zealand conference.
Photo: 123rf
Health Minister Andrew Little said the new entity would strive to ensure everyone, no matter where they lived, would have access to the same level of healthcare.
But people in more remote parts of the country fear being forgotten and want to see issues they are facing finally be addressed.
Health New Zealand, the new entity set to change Aotearoa s healthcare system, is being cautiously welcomed by people from the top of the country to the south.
Te Hiku Peninsula in the Far North has experienced accessibility issues and many Māori faced cost barriers when it came to health care.
The last bank to phase them out is Bank of New Zealand, which will not accept them from July. Rush had been a customer of Westpac for over 30 years and joined them because of how accommodating” they were at the time. Rush and her partner John Heron, 74, were convinced banks were culling cheques for their own convenience, and didn t care about rural customers. This was enforced by the reduction of opening hours at rural branches. As the sole manager of her farm, Rush said she did not have time to travel to her nearest bank, which was only open for four hours, three days a week.
Banks urged to analyse social, economic impacts of rural branch closures Riley Kennedy
Rural communities are urging banks to give more thought before closing branches in small towns.
For many years, banks have been pulling out of small towns blaming a lack of foot traffic and profitability.
Last month, Kiwibank announced plans to close seven branches, five of which are in rural communities. A final decision is due at the end of March.
Rural Women New Zealand national president Gill Naylor is urging the banks to undertake a rural impact analysis to study the effects of bank closures. We think there needs to perhaps be a little more work done on those impacts rather than simply looking at bottom lines, Naylor said.