Women who are 30 and under are set to benefit from free healthcare under a new initiative which aims to break down barriers.

Totara Health is running the programme, which offers free nurse and doctor consultations for all women who are 30 or under and enrolled with clinic's Flaxmere and Hastings branches.

The general manager of Totara Health, Shane Gorst told Tim Dower supporting young women has a flow on effect to their families and communities.

"We can't cover everybody...so we had to choose a group that we felt would have the most impact and our young women in the community are also often our mothers and by supporting them we can support their wider whānau and that seems to make the most sense to us."

"I think it's fair to say that we all have a woman in our lives, or we know a woman, who puts everyone's needs above their own. We see that a lot in our community - often to the detriment of their own health and wellbeing so I suppose that's what drove us to the decision to focus on women 30 and under."

He said the programme is also about helping young women access healthcare.

"We know that access to healthcare isn't a level playing field in our community."

The programme is funded entirely by the business and Gorst said while it would be great for it to be rolled out nationwide, it's about finding the right way to do it.

"Should we be doing this at a broader scale? Absolutely we should. [But] I think it's about finding the right way to do that to make it scalable."

"It's not necessarily about free care, but maybe it's about looking at what we can do to remove any other barriers. Cost is a barrier but it's not the only one."

"There are people in our community that don't access healthcare for [other] reasons, maybe they have a lack of knowledge about how to navigate the healthcare system, maybe they have been the victims of prejudice, maybe they don't have transport."

"It [cost] is not a silver bullet. You have to look at all those things collectively in order to really solve those challenges, and that's something we are doing but this a good step in the right direction.

Totara Health has approximately 1600 women who would be eligible for free visits on their client list.

Gorst said the programme has a significant cost to the business but it's worth it.

"We have a real social focus to what we are trying to achieve and we want to try and level the playing field in terms of access and equity in healthcare so it makes sense to do things like this."

He said it's a targetted approach which is why the service is only offered to women.

"It's a calculated programme. At the end of the day, we have to pay our bills like any other business...but we are at a scale where we can afford to make this investment and that's what it is, it's an investment in the health of the young women in our community."

The programme won't be needs tested and is available to all women 30 and under who are enrolled with the Flaxmere and Hastings clinics.

Clinical Director Dr Sandra Jessop says removing cost as a barrier will help more women to get regular checkups.

"We decided as a business that we needed to do something more than we were already doing - we already have free consults for those under 18.

"In supporting young women to be as well as they can be, we support their children and that is a deeply satisfying thought for all of us at Totara Health."

Currently 1600 women between the ages of 18 and 30 are enrolled at Totara Health, and will therefore be immediately impacted.

Health Hawke's Bay's Māori Health Manager Lillian Ward shared similar sentiments, noting that it is a "great initiative for young mothers and their whānau as it assists in tamariki getting the best start in life".

"Within Te Ao Māori women are the kaitiaki for future generations, this initiative highlights and supports the importance of healthy mothers, sisters and aunties, if we are healthy then we are able to care for our whanau whanui."

Since publicising the offer through the Flaxmere Heroes Calendar in December, Jessop says the response has been overwhelming.

While it is hard to measure the impact, Jessop hopes they will see an increased use by woman.

Hastings councillor for Flaxmere and Hastings Ambassador, Henare O'Keefe believes it will "alleviate a lot of stress for many of our people".

"We all know the hardship that a lot of families are faced with and Totara Health realise that there are families that just don't go to the doctor because they can't afford it," O'Keefe said.

"I congratulate Totara Health for having the vision and foresight to do that."