Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 3/10/24

Something for Shane Reti to smile about – good progress is being made to meet health targets

It’s great to see Health Minister Dr Shane Reti can bring us good news from a portfolio which – regardless of the extra funding his government has provided – will never have enough money to do everything that needs doing in the health domain.

He has welcomed new data from Health New Zealand, saying it demonstrates encouraging progress against the Government’s health targets.

The greatest improvements have been made in reducing wait times for cancer treatment, first assessments and elective treatment.

This news has been posted today on the government’s official website, along with an announcement about access to statistics.

Latest from the Beehive

3 October 2024

Positive progress on Government health targets

Health Minister Dr Shane Reti welcomes new data from Health New Zealand, saying it demonstrates encouraging progress against the Government’s health targets.

2 October 2024

Supporting better access to data for Kiwis

The launch of a new data tool will provide Kiwis with better access to important data, Statistics Minister Andrew Bayly says.

Shane Reti’s news comes from Health New Zealand’s quarterly report for the quarter to 30 June, which will be used as the baseline for reporting against the Government’s five health targets. These came into effect on 1 July.

“The latest report shows that while there’s still work to do, and I acknowledge that quarter by quarter we will expect variation, Health New Zealand is already making progress on four out of the five health targets,” says Dr Reti.

“This clearly demonstrates the value and the need for targets in the health system, as we’re seeing stabilisation of numbers that have fallen in the absence of a clear focus on performance over the last six years.”

Reti said he was pleased to see positive progress made against the government’s cancer treatment waiting time target – 83.5 per cent, compared to 82.7 per cent in the previous quarter.

“As the system prepares to implement new cancer treatments coming online from 1 October, starting with Keytruda, I expect New Zealanders’ access to cancer treatment to improve even more in the coming months.

“We continue to see small improvements in the time that people are spending in the emergency departments, with 71.2 per cent of patients admitted, discharged or transferred from an ED within six hours, compared to 70.1 per cent in the previous quarter.

“Over 61 per cent of patients received planned care within four months. In real terms, this means 1,519 fewer people waiting for surgery.

“However, while people are waiting less time for treatment, they’re still waiting too long to be assessed, with only a small improvement in the wait times for a first specialist assessment.”

But while Health New Zealand’s data shows improvements in some areas, it also highlights the need for a strong and sustained focus on improving the public services New Zealanders rely on, particularly health care.

“We know we have more work to do, particularly to boost childhood immunisations,” says Dr Reti.

“Too many Kiwi kids are getting ill with vaccine-preventable diseases. This latest report shows that 76.5 per cent of children were immunised at 24 months, compared to 77.2 per cent in the previous quarter.

“This reduction partially reflects an increase in the accuracy of Health New Zealand’s reporting. With the move to the Aotearoa Immunisation Register, we now have a more accurate picture of eligible New Zealanders and where each of them is in their vaccination schedule.”

Reti mentioned the money being injected into health services.

The Government has invested $50 million over two years to boost immunisations and is working to expand the vaccinator workforce, so people can get immunised wherever they go to access healthcare – through a midwife, at participating pharmacies or at community events.

“Recently, we released our plan to implement the health targets, and we are working hard to turn around the significant financial issues at Health New Zealand.

“Our health targets are ambitious and this is not something that we can turn around overnight. However, today’s results are promising and I am confident that New Zealanders will see a real difference in access to quality healthcare.”

Reti’s statement comes at a time when he (and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop) have been vilified down south after stalling the current plan for a new Dunedin Hospital, saying the project has gone over budget.

They said the Government is getting advice on two options for delivering the new hospital from within the existing $1.88 billion set aside for it. The project’s cost has escalated to an estimated $3b.

Elsewhere (according to a newspaper headline) Health Minister Shane Reti fails to address West Coast health cut concerns

From 1 October, the Coast has lost its weekend urgent GP clinics. They will be replaced by telehealth provider, Ka Ora, with some in-person clinical back-up.

Both the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) and the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) oppose te cuts, saying patients will be put risk.

Reti is under fire, too, for ordering Health New Zealand Hawke’s Bay to drop criteria which allowed young Māori to get free doctors’ visits until they reached the age of 24.

He supports the proposition that health servicdes should be delivered on the basis of need, not ethnicity.

But he is being challenged “to do what is right and include ethnicity, as a variable, in equitable healthcare”.

Here’s hoping Reti’s health is robust enough to enable him to cope with the political pressure.

Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton