{"id":407852,"date":"2026-05-02T04:43:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T04:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/407852\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T04:43:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T04:43:15","slug":"fuel-costs-linked-to-700-surge-in-missed-gp-visits-in-northland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/407852\/","title":{"rendered":"Fuel costs linked to 700% surge in missed GP visits in Northland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Webber said in recent months, patients have missed critical appointments as they could not afford petrol<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Others were unable to collect vital medications, forcing clinic staff to personally deliver prescriptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout urgent intervention, inequities will deepen<\/a>, preventable conditions will worsen and the long term cost to the health system will far outweigh the investment needed now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccess to healthcare should never depend on what\u2019s in your fuel tank<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessie Hoskins, chief executive of Broadway Health in Kaikohe, said the impact of rising fuel costs was evident every day<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is no longer hypothetical – we see it every day. Wh\u0101nau are having to choose: do I put fuel in the car, or do I go to the doctor<\/a>?\u201d<\/p>\n

Missed appointments<\/a>, or \u201cdid not attends\u201d at Broadwood Health rose sharply in response to rising fuel costs.<\/p>\n

In 2024, there were seven missed appointments between February 1 and April 23.<\/p>\n

\"JensenJensen Webber from Mahitahi Hauora says urgent intervention is needed so patients can see a doctor, preventing long-term impacts.<\/p>\n

This rose to 11 over the same period in 2025 and 59 this year \u2013 a 743% increase since 2024.<\/p>\n

Frontline staff believed the surge was directly linked to fuel affordability.<\/p>\n

In response to the pressures wh\u0101nau face, some Mahitahi Hauora general practices<\/a> took a compassionate approach, charging for missed appointments only when they were repeatedly missed.<\/p>\n

Others relied on petrol vouchers from a previous programme but said the resource was nearly exhausted.<\/p>\n

Some practices also increased travel assistance for rural patients to reach specialist care but acknowledged that meant fewer patients could be supported.<\/p>\n

\"PainPain at the pump means struggling Northland families can’t afford to go to the doctor. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

One rural practice manager thought it was a choice that should not have to be made.<\/p>\n

Webber said Mahitahi Hauora was calling for immediate Government action to ensure access to healthcare was not dictated by the price of fuel.<\/p>\n

He wanted to see solutions, including petrol vouchers for patients, increased funding for outreach services and community transport options<\/a>, especially in rural areas.<\/p>\n

Webber said it was also important to recognise fuel-related barriers in healthcare performance measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are practical, targeted solutions available right now, but action is needed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWh\u0101nau deserve to get the care they need, close to home, without fuel costs standing in the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denise Piper is a news reporter<\/a> for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Webber said in recent months, patients have missed critical appointments as they could not afford petrol. Others were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[34295,209876,542,6877,6726,4057,138,802,537,7061,219,2678,69835,527,78,7055,14771,6501,111,139,1067,69,6293,22126,18369,5352,801,544,1515,1361,61,14450,102,2963],"class_list":["post-407852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-34295","tag-209876","tag-access","tag-appointments","tag-become","tag-behind","tag-business","tag-costs","tag-crisis","tag-doctor","tag-economy","tag-fuel","tag-gp","tag-healthcare","tag-in","tag-linked","tag-missed","tag-missing","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-nz","tag-patients","tag-petrol","tag-practices","tag-reporting","tag-rising","tag-some","tag-surge","tag-that","tag-to","tag-visits","tag-with","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}