The Opportunities Party (TOP) has proposed to fully fund contraception and antenatal ultrasounds as part of its health policy, released today.
The party says it's taking a "public health approach to healthcare", aimed at resolving labour shortages and investing in key areas "that improve outcomes for everyone".
TOP health spokesperson Dr Nina Su said healthcare workers pursued a career in health to help people, but many were "facing high rates of burnout and depression".
"After years of under-investment and mismanagement, we need to strengthen our public health services - with a focus on ensuring the right services are affordable and accessible to everyone.”
“Healthcare is more than just medicine and surgery. It’s about how our environment and society is structured to enable people to reach their potential. We want to see all ministries take a public health approach to government policy.”
The policy aimed to strengthen healthcare workforce retention by "ensuring they have fair liveable wages and safer hour rosters".
That included increasing placements at medical, nursing and dentistry schools, introducing an accelerated post-graduate medical programme for those who'd completed clinical or science degrees, and increased funding to the voluntary bonding scheme for nurses, midwives, doctors and allied health workers.
The party also wanted to introduce a fully-funded ambulance service, fully fund contraception - including long-acting reversible contraception, and fully fund antenatal ultrasounds and associated GP visits.
It also wanted to review the funding model for primary care, aimed at enabling more GP practices to provide fully-funded care in the community. It gave the example of cervical screening and minor skin surgeries. It also wanted to enable Te Whatu Ora to provide public GP practices in under-served rural areas that did not currently have one.
Su said fully funding contraception and antenatal ultrasounds alongside support for maternity services would be a "game-changer for women".
"Women would have more control over their reproductive health, improve their pregnancy outcomes, and reduce the financial burden of having a baby.”
She said fully-funded GPs in rural communities could be provided with a "hybrid" model of care, integrating "highly-skilled paramedics" and community nurses.
“Our GPs are already highly skilled, and we need to resource them to provide fully-funded core health services in our communities that people live in. This would ease the burden on secondary care and specialist services.”
Asked for costings for the policy, a TOP spokesman said the party believed a fully-funded ambulance service would be $70 million, and antenatal ultrasounds $30m.
The funding for all of the proposals would come out of "normal Budget bids and out of future Budget allowances", he said.
The party, if elected into government, would work with Treasury to "make sure it's prioritised in the national spend".
TOP received 2% for its party vote in the last 1News Verian poll at the end of July, up 1% on the previous poll.
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