Hon Dr Shane Reti
Minister of Health

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

Health New Zealand’s quarterly report for the quarter to 30 June will be used as the baseline for reporting against the Government’s five health targets, which 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.”

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

“I’m pleased to see positive progress made against our cancer treatment waiting time target, which is now sitting at 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.”

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.

“The Government has already 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.”

Notes:

In the quarter to 30 June:

• Faster cancer treatment – 83.5 per cent of cancer patients received treatment within 31 days of the decision to treat, compared to 82.7 per cent in the previous quarter.
• Improved childhood immunisations – 76.5 per cent were immunised at 24 months, compared to 77.2 per cent in the previous quarter.
• Shorter stays in emergency departments – 71.2 per cent of patients in EDs were admitted, discharged or transferred from an ED within six hours, compared to 70.1 per cent in the previous quarter.
• Shorter wait times for assessment – 61.5 per cent of patients waited less than four months for an assessment, compared to 59.6 per cent in the previous quarter.
• Shorter wait times for treatment – 61.4 per cent of patients waited less than four months for elective treatment, compared to 57.7 per cent in the previous quarter.

The Government’s five health targets came into effect on 1 July 2024.

Data released today provides a baseline for the Government health targets.

As performance data provides a snapshot in time, there may be variances in results previously reported for the quarter ending 30 March 2024, depending on when the data is uploaded and subsequently extracted.

In December 2023, Health New Zealand transitioned to the Aotearoa Immunisation Register, which captures a larger number of records for childhood immunisations than was previously available, which has resulted in a more fulsome view of immunisation rates among children. This has contributed to the decline seen in the results released today, as we are using better data than we previously have.

Health New Zealand’s Quarter 4 Performance Report can be found on their website: https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/publications/quarterly-performance-report-1-april-to-30-june-2024

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