The report ‘A Great Little Hospital’- Inside New Zealand’s Rural and Community Hospital System, highlights the need for leadership of Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand to pay careful attention to how making better use of capacity in rural hospitals could improve care for rural patients and decompress overcrowded metropolitan hospitals.
The key findings of the report are:
- Rural emergency departments are under pressure – Across 12 rural hospitals between July 2023 and June 2025, patient presentations increased by 4.7% however number of patients who did not wait for treatment leapt 20%.
- Many rural hospitals have spare capacity –. The average bed utilisation across rural and community hospital networks was 79.5% –well below the national average and under the recommended best-practice threshold. Recent Health New Zealand data shows that between 2023 and 2025, hospitals such as Tokoroa (52.1%), Kaitāia (55.3%), and Ashburton (58.8%) used on average just over half of their hospital beds each month.
- Demand for diagnostic services is growing – Radiology scanning and laboratory testing volumes are rocketing upward, reflecting increasing pressure on these services nationally.
- Rural medical staffing is key – Sufficient medical staffing remains the rate limiting step in providing timely ED assessment, hospital admissions, care, and discharges.
- Shifting to a 7-day service model – Demand on clinical services – particularly diagnostics, outpatient, and mental health – continues to grow. Traditional models relying on call after hours rosters are outdated and more investment in 7-day rosters are required.
“Resident doctors and allied health professionals tell us rural hospitals are great places to work and train. However many of these hospitals are not meeting patient needs or their full potential due to a lack of focus on ensuring sufficient medical staffing, diagnostic support and 7-day service models,” said Dr Deborah Powell, National Secretary of APEX and NZRDA.
“Getting more out of the hospital network requires a focus on using existing capacity better, as well as investing in expanding capacity in high demand hospitals.”
“One of our members described their workplace as ‘a great little hospital’ – and we hope this report leads to a renewed focus on how we can improve rural hospital services,” concluded Dr Powell.
For further information please contact:
Dr Deborah Powell
APEX – National Secretary
Ph: 021 614 040
Email: secretary@apex.org.nz
Natalia D’Souza
Research & Policy Advisor
Ph: (09) 526 0280
Email: natalia@cns.org.nz
The full report A Great Little Hospital: Inside New Zealand’s Rural and Community Hospital System can be read here on our website or downloaded in pdf form here. The report is also attached to this email.
Further information
Rural and community hospitals – Broadly we looked at Health NZ’s small hospital network, including rural hospitals as well as small provincial and community hospitals. This meant that as well as looking at Kaitāia, Ōamaru and Ashburton hospitals, we also looked at Whanganui, Timaru and Wairarapa hospitals.
NZRDA – New Zealand Resident Doctors’ Association is a trade union of 3,000 resident medical officers including trainee interns, house officers, registrars and fellows. Resident medical officers are doctors who have finished medical school and are completing training as general practitioners and other specialists.
APEX – The Association of Professionals and Executive Employees represents over 6,000 allied, scientific and technical health professionals including psychologists, laboratory scientists, medical imaging technologists, pharmacists, and physiotherapists.