MND NZ calls on the Government to train five, keep five

Did you know that New Zealand trains up to five neurologists each year, yet funds public hospital roles for only about three? This means every year, Aotearoa is losing trained neurologists because there are not enough funded roles.  

Neurologists are a critical part of our healthcare system, particularly for people living with motor neurone disease (MND) and other neurological conditions. MND has an average life expectancy of two to three years, so any delay to see a neurologist to receive a diagnosis can leave people in a limbo of frustrating appointments, tests and misdiagnoses that waste precious time.  

Read more about these issues and New Zealand’s current situation in this recent RNZ article. 

Neurological Alliance of New Zealand election campaign

In this election year, we join our brain health and neurological colleagues as part of the Neurological Alliance of New Zealand to ask all politicians for their commitment to train five, keep five.    

Our election asks 

1. Fund two additional public hospital neurology positions each year. This would allow New Zealand to train five and keep five, rather than continuing to lose specialists to private practice or overseas, because funded roles are not available. 

2. Commit to a national neurological workforce strategy. New Zealand needs a planned approach to current and future neurological demand, including training, recruitment, retention, regional access, follow-up care and the needs of people living with chronic neurological conditions. 

What have we done? 

We’re helping spread the message alongside our Neurological Alliance colleagues to ask all politicians for their commitment to train five, keep five.  

Our CE Mark Leggett has sent this letter to every current Member of Parliament to ask for that commitment.  

How can you help? 

We appreciate that people living with MND and their whānau have a lot of demands on their precious time. However, if you, or people you know, feel compelled to join us in this campaign you can reach out to your local politician. 

You can click here to see a letter with example wording that you can send to your MP. 

You can find the list of all current Members of Parliament here. Click on the name of the MP you wish to contact, and you’ll find their email address on the left side of the page under ‘Contact Details'. 

Alternatively, you can send a letter through Freepost to: 

[insert MP name] 
Freepost Parliament 
Private Bag 18 888 
Parliament Buildings 
Wellington 6160