Please see the email below from Te Whatu Ora which is a summary of progress of the roll-out of the new and improved urgent care framework. Te Whatu Ora will be running a webinar for those keen to find out more or ask questions:

Date: Tuesday 5 May 2026
Time: 6pm – 7pm
Register: click here to register

Kia ora koutou,

We’re writing to share an update on the roll-out of the new and improved urgent care framework, announced by the Government last year and supported by significant new investment in urgent and after-hours healthcare. The framework is focused on making urgent care easier to access, no matter where people live. When fully implemented, the aim is for 98% of New Zealanders to be able to access urgent care within one hour’s drive of their home. This will help people get the care they need sooner, closer to home, and reduce pressure on hospital emergency departments.

What we’ve achieved so far

Work is well underway, with new and extended services beginning to roll out in areas where access needed to be strengthened. As part of the first tranche of improvements, new or enhanced urgent care services are now operating in the below communities, with early feedback showing they are being well used and getting positive feedback from patients and providers:

  • Dunedin
  • Lower Hutt
  • East and South Auckland
  • Whakatāne

Alongside this, we’ve completed six rural and remote urgent care prototype services in:

  • Aotea Great Barrier Island
  • Coromandel
  • Te Kūiti
  • Tūrangi
  • Golden Bay
  • Twizel

What’s next

Over the coming months we will begin procurement and contracting processes to start rolling out new or extended urgent care services in the next group of communities, including 13 large urban and provincial settings, and nine rural and remote locations. You can see the planned locations in the updated tranche 1 implementation table on our urgent care web page here.

All procurement opportunities will be advertised through the usual channels. In some instances, for example where there is only one general practice in a rural community, Health NZ will directly work with an existing provider on enhancing their current urgent and after-hours service, rather than running a procurement process.  If you’re interested in understanding what this could mean in your area, we encourage you to talk with your regional Health NZ team.While a key implementation priority is to deliver new services, we will also be working with existing providers to strengthen and stabilise their services, in line with the Framework.

We’ll share another update with you in mid 2026, setting out where the next group of locations is likely to be.

Other programme activity this year

Alongside new and extended urgent care services, a number of supporting initiatives will roll out this year, including:

  • We will be trialing and evaluating the impact of Point of Care Testing (POCT) in some urban urgent care clinics over the winter period. 
    This will inform future commissioning decisions regarding POCT in urban settings.
  • A procurement process for Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) training and peer support programme for rural and remote urgent and after-hours care clinicians.
  • We are analysing past urgent care data to inform our implementation while we work on a digital solution that will support consistent ongoing urgent care reporting nationwide.
  • Development of nationally consistent service specifications, funding approaches, and data standards to support a more equitable and coordinated urgent care system.
  • ED redirection is expanding across a growing number of Emergency Departments as part of winter preparedness. This includes:
    • Christchurch ED expanding redirection to GP Online,
    • the rollout of digitally supported ED redirection across all Northern Region EDs enabling redirection to 18 Health NZ funded urgent care clinics,
    • and the implementation of digitally supported ED redirection in Taupō, Rotorua, and New Plymouth EDs to support redirection to urgent care clinics in these locations.
  • An Expression of Interest has been released on GETS for an establishment grant to support urgent care, rural hospitals, and integrated health providers[1]  to expand
    access to telehealth services. This initiative aims to improve timely access to primary care especially in rural areas.
  • Ongoing work with ACC to explore options and opportunities to co-commissioning urgent and after-hours care in future.

Join us – urgent care roll-out – webinar update

We’re also hosting a webinar to provide an overview of the programme so far, talk through what’s coming next, and answer your questions. Please join us!

Date: Tuesday 5 May 2026
Time: 6pm – 7pm
Register: click here to register

Once you’ve registered, you’ll receive a joining link by email that you can use to join the webinar on the night.

For the purposes of this EOI Rural hospitals and integrated health services are services located in rural areas (defined by the Geographical Classification of Health as R1, R2 or R3).  They provide integrated primary, urgent and ambulatory medical care by teams of generalist clinicians.

Thank you

Thank you for your continued support, engagement, and leadership as we work together to improve urgent and after-hours care across Aotearoa. Your partnership is critical to making
sure these services are safe, sustainable, and designed around the needs of communities. Alongside our Health NZ regional teams, we look forward to continuing this work with you.