Mr Doocey was in Oamaru as part of the rural health roadshow that is travelling across the country.
"The rural health roadshow is an opportunity for me to hear direct feedback from the public and those who are working in rural health about what’s working well and where the barriers may be. The roadshow is also a great opportunity to hear how well the rural health strategy is being implemented," Mr Doocey said.
He started the roadshow in Levin and then visited Wairoa and Wānaka. He was excited to be in Oamaru to hear from the community and people working in rural health.
About 100 local health professionals and residents turned out for the meeting.
"It was a great meeting," Mr Doocey said.
He said the nature of such public meetings was unpredictable, as neither he nor the health officials from Health New Zealand and the Ministry of Health knew what topics people would bring up. However, it turned out to be "a real broad mix".
"One issue raised was around crisis, mental health crisis support and wanting to make sure in Oamaru there was the availability of support because, of course, people can go to the emergency department or to Wakari [mental health facility in Dunedin] if they need it but it was really good to be able to announce that a new crisis support service is going to be rolled out in Oamaru, through the local Pasifika community service and that it will allow people who call up to be able to receive a local crisis response."
The service will start on August 1.
Waitaki MP Miles Anderson said he was pleased the crisis service would be available for Waitaki people.
"This service is a result of local advocacy by the likes of Stronger Waitaki, which will take pressure off our emergency department and other agencies.
Mr Doocey said the roadshow built on initiatives already in train to improve rural healthcare services.
"Budget 2025 delivered for Kiwis living in rural and remote communities. The government is investing $164million over four years to strengthen urgent and after-hours care nationwide, meaning 98% of Kiwis will be able to access these services within one hour’s drive of their home.
"We are also improving access to primary care, including access to 24/7 digital care, training more new doctors and investing to increase the number of nurses in primary care.
"The third area where there was some discussion was the travel-assistance programme," Mr Doocey said.
"It’s been a common theme from the four roadshow meetings we’ve done that it is probably time to review the travel-assistance programme."
That included wider discussion around travel and accommodation assistance, he said.
While the allowance was recently increased from $120 to $140, people still felt they needed greater support.
"So it is something we said we’d take away and look at because we’ve actually heard it in the other meetings as well."
