It’s only a matter of time before you need healthcare.
Our New Zealand health system is in crisis.
The government must act now to fix it.
ON THE STATE OF
THE NEW ZEALAND HEALTH SYSTEM
As signatories to this declaration, we assert:
Aotearoa New Zealand’s health system is in a state of crisis.
The Government must act urgently to address that crisis.
Rural, Māori, and low-income populations are disproportionately impacted by the crisis.
The Government must act urgently to meet its obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and protect Māori health, in consultation with iwi and hapū.
The Government must allocate additional resources to train, recruit and retain more nurses, doctors and specialists.
Historic declaration on the state of the New Zealand heath system.
The Buller Declaration was officially launched in Westport on Saturday 28 September (hence the reference to Buller) after 2000 people took part in a silent march to the clock tower over the state of healthcare in Buller.
To start the Declaration, the Mayor of Buller signed, as did representatives of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, the Rural Health Network, and the New Zealand Royal College of General Practitioners. After they had signed, we then invited the public to do likewise.
Click here to follow the locations of the Buller Declaration.
Buller is very isolated from the rest of the country and to know that, at times there are no emergency services available to service the community, fills residents with worry and fear.
Dr Malcolm Mulholland, Patient Voice Aotearoa
Know that the Declaration can be signed by anyone of any age. It is called the Buller Declaration because that was where the document was first signed on Saturday 28 September 2024.
Only sign the Declaration once.
Only one signature per line.
Know that the Declaration will tour the country, so tell your friends and family to sign it also.
We are accepting koha/donations in the available box or by donating at givealittle.co.nz/org/patient-voice-aotearoa
If you can help gather more signatures, email us at bullerdeclaration@gmail.com
Join us when we present the Declaration to Parliament at a date to be decided.
Stay up to date on the progress of the Declaration and keep an eye out for the date to present the Declaration to Parliament in the media.
States Malcolm Mulholland, who was raised in the small Northern Buller settlement of Seddonville, “Buller is very isolated from the rest of the country and to know that, at times there are no emergency services available to service the community, fills residents with worry and fear. The people of Buller welcome the Health Select Committee to come to Westport to hear first hand the submitters to the petition, to see if they can get to the bottom of why there is no apparent recruitment and retention strategy in action. Buller is the smallest province by population in New Zealand and is the canary in the coalmine when it comes to the New Zealand health system. Right now, that canary is dying.
Malcolm’s father, George Mulholland, who lives by himself in Seddonville and is one of the oldest residents of Northern Buller aged 84, is worried about the state of healthcare in Buller. “I’m a prime example of why we need better access to healthcare in the Buller. I’ve worked my entire life as a miner, a farmer, and a mill and bush worker; to keep the economy going and I’ve paid my fair share of taxes. People my age who I’ve spoken to are happy to pay a little bit extra in tax to try and keep our nurses and doctors in New Zealand. This Government needs to pay our medics the same as Australia. We can’t keep being a medical training school for Australia and losing our best and brightest.
Spokesperson for the Buller Health Action Group Anita Halsall-Quinlan, states that the people of Buller are fed up with the lack of staff at Buller Hospital including the imminent closure of weekend and afterhours clinics in Buller. “The people of Buller are not happy about what is happening and are not going to take the lack of staff at Buller Hospital and the closure of weekend and afterhours clinics lying down. The people of Buller are concerned for the added burden this is going to place on our incredibly hardworking staff through the weekdays. All roads now lead to Saturday September 28th when Buller will march in silence to the Westport Clock Tower. I’ve never seen the people of Buller so motivated and united to do something to try and address the sad state of healthcare in our region.
About the Buller Declaration
Buller Hospital’s Acute Stabilisation Unit (ASU) has been closed for just under a month since it opened its doors in May last year due to staffing shortages. Adding to the problem of a lack of emergency health services in Buller is that there is only one rescue helicopter in operation to service the entire West Coast that is based in Greymouth and is weather dependent and the one Hato Hone/St John ambulance stationed in Westport is often used to transfer patients from Westport to Greymouth, leaving the Buller with no ambulance available. A serious incident review is currently being conducted by Health New Zealand into the death of Leo Lozano who presented to Buller Hospital on July 17.
