New Zealand rolls out health system reforms

Its healthcare system was criticized over variable access across districts.

New policies will reshape New Zealand’s health system, which has been under stress for some time, Fitch Solutions said. The government has rolled out radical changes to its health system, including abolishing 20 district health boards in favour of a single national body similar to Britain’s National Health Service.

The government is also establishing a national body for indigenous healthcare. When the Jacinda Ardern-led Labour government came into power it commissioned a system-wide review, finding major racial inequities, chronic under-resourcing and variable quality of care across categories, including mental health and disability.

Rather than 20 independent district health boards, a new entity, Health New Zealand, will run hospitals, primary and community health services. It will have four regional divisions. “The health system has been known by citizens as the ‘postcode lottery’, as access to care can depend on which district health board they fall under,” the report stated.

Fitch Solutions noted that the pandemic highlighted problems in the current structure. Whilst New Zealand’s response to the virus has been lauded internationally, there were fears in-country that the fragmented health system and its accompanying bureaucracy might impede the rollout of mass testing, mass vaccinations or distributing resources to care for COVID-19 patients.

The new national agency and public health units would act as a joined-up national service, so the country will be better equipped to fight future outbreaks and pandemics, the report noted.

“The changes will also refocus the healthcare system on prevention and primary care. The shift towards public health and prevention comes as illnesses like diabetes, heart disease and cancer account for an increasing portion of the country’s healthcare spend,” Fitch said.