Look at what’s happened to the wait list for passports – then imagine something similar in the health portfolio
One nugget of news from the Beehive today sparked a Cabinet-reshuffling idea for the PM, assuming he is serious about reaching the “five major health targets” he and Health Minister announced in March to cap off the government’s 100-day plan.
The health targets are:
- Cancer treatment: 90 percent of patients to receive cancer management within 31 days of the decision to treat
- Child immunisation rates: 95 percent of children to be fully immunised at 24 months of age
- ED stay times: 95 percent of patients to be admitted, discharged or transferred from an ED within six hours
- First specialist assessment wait times: 95 percent of patients to wait less than four months
- Treatment wait times: 95 percent of patients to wait less than four months for elective treatment
According to data from Health New Zealand, released at the end of March and covering the three months to December 2023, wait times for first specialist appointments and hospital treatment had got worse. They showed 68,179 (37 percent) had been waiting more than four months to see a specialist, an increase of 8361 compared with the previous quarter.
Forty percent of patients (30,757) had waited more than four months for surgery or other treatments, up from 38 percent (28,826).
Te Whatu Ora chief executive Margie Apa said while there was improvement in some areas, the agency had yet to see “the level of improvement we need in our hospital settings”.
What to do?
Preparing this article today, Point of Order was tempted to suggest the PM give the job to Brooke van Velden.
The idea was sparked by her today reporting, in her capacity as Minister of Internal Affairs –
Wow. Just imagine her being able to report something similar as Minister of Health.
You can find her passport news here –
Latest from the Beehive
6 August 2024
Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says wait times for passports have halved since an upgrade to the passport processing software in March caused unexpected delays to passport processing times.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a four-country tour of the Pacific later this week.
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says delivery of a long overdue Emergency Observation Unit for Christchurch Hospital will reduce admissions, free up valuable resources across the hospital and help deliver on shorter stays in Emergency Departments.
5 August 2024
New Zealand will opt out of the Australia New Zealand joint infant formula standard, Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard says.
5 August 2024
Education Minister Erica Stanford is announcing stronger accountability measures for the education system as part of the Government’s plan to turn around New Zealand’s unacceptable rates of maths achievement.
On reflection, halving the wait time for passports perhaps might not be as challenging as reducing wait times in the health portfolio.
The first paragraph of Brooke van Velden’s press statement gives us a bit more information to explain our inclination to have second thoughts: she said wait times for passports have halved since an upgrade to the passport processing software in March caused unexpected delays to passport processing times.
“As of Tuesday 6 August, the passport application queue has reduced by over 57 per cent – 31,000 applications down from a peak of 53,847 at the beginning of May, and wait times have halved,” says Ms van Velden.
“In the month of July, the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] issued 50,397 passports – over 10,700 more passports than applications it received.”
Of the passports issued by the Department in July, 83 per cent were issued within 6 weeks. Of the passports issued by the Department in July, 91 per cent were applied for online and 32 per cent were group applications.
“The upgrade to the passports system implemented in March was the most significant in over a decade. I am pleased that Kiwis can use the new options that make applying for a passport online a lot easier,” says Ms van Velden.
“The Department officials have assured me that it continues to work hard to reduce wait times and has measures in place to meet its upcoming goals.
Passport wait times have been steadily reducing. The Department is currently advising applicants to allow up to five weeks plus delivery for a standard passport, down from 10 weeks as reported in May. This timeframe is provided as a reference to ensure customers are aware of the time it may take to issue their passport and can plan accordingly. However, most passports are being issued faster than that.
“Reducing passport processing times continues to be a key priority for the Department,” says Ms van Velden.
Fair to say, reducing wait times for hospital treatment continues to be a key priority for the Government’s health programme, too.
We look forward to the next progress report.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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