Wellington| New Zealand Health Minister Andrew Little said today that greater emphasis on primary health services and ensuring fair access to all citizens are the two main drivers of reform in the health sector. Little said in a statement, “We are going to emphasize primary and community health services and remove the repetitive and unnecessary bureaucracy between sectors so that our health workers can do what they do best to keep people well.” “.
The reforms would mean that for the first time New Zealand would actually have a national health system, and the kind of treatment people would receive would no longer be determined where they live.
The minister said the reforms would replace all 20 District Health Boards with a new national unit, Health New Zealand, which would be responsible for running hospitals and commissioning primary and community health services.
Saith Little said, “The system will be overseen by a strong Health Ministry, which will advise the government on policy matters”.
