Northern’s more than two million people make up 38 per cent of the population, but made up only 32.2 per cent of initial consults with the service
Target groups for the online GP and nurse practitioner service include people unenrolled with a general practice, with Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora estimating that, as at April 2025, 94.3 per cent of the country’s nearly 5.34 million population were enrolled.
The Central region does include two districts, Hawke’s Bay and MidCentral, with two of the lowest estimated enrolment rates in the country (92 per cent) resulting in the region having the second lowest average enrolment rate (93.3 per cent) across the country’s four regions.
But the online consult uptake to date from patients in the Midland | Te Manawa Taki region – which covers Tairāwhiti to Taranaki and has the country’s lowest average enrolment rate at 92.8 per cent – has been proportionately much lower.
The Midland region, which includes the Waikato district, has nearly 20 per cent of the country’s population but only made up 17 per cent of the initial online consults, compared to Central’s 31.1 per cent.
Yesterday’s statistics showed that the main reason reported by patients for using the service was the lack of timely in-person appointments (71.6 per cent), followed by convenience (11.5 per cent) and only 2.5 per cent of users reported not being enrolled with a practice.