Hon Simeon Brown
Minister of Health

The Government is reviewing New Zealand’s health workforce legislation to ensure the focus is on putting patients first, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.

Reviewing health workforce legislation will consider a number of key matters including:

• Prioritising patient voices in regulatory decisions.
• Reducing red tape to make healthcare more accessible.
• Making it easier to recognise overseas regulations.
• Driving efficiencies by streamlining regulatory decision making

“We are committed to ensuring all New Zealanders can access timely, quality healthcare,” Mr Brown says.

“Making our health system more efficient and enabling frontline workers to get on with their jobs will allow it to become more responsive to patient needs.

“New Zealand’s current health workforce regulations can be overly bureaucratic, and this is slowing down access to care, increasing costs, and making it harder for patients to get the services they need.

“Our regulations can also make it harder to attract, train and retain healthcare workers. Whether it’s requiring nursing students to complete hundreds more clinical hours than those in Australia, complicated approval pathways for overseas qualified doctors to practice in NZ, or imposing rules that prioritise cultural requirements over clinical safety in scopes of practices, our healthcare system is being held back by outdated and unnecessary barriers.”

“We also need to better recognise overseas qualifications to speed up access to healthcare for patients. As part of the National-ACT Coalition agreement, we are also considering the establishment of an Occupations Tribunal which would consider appeals about decisions relating to overseas qualifications.

“Patients expect to receive care from qualified practitioners, with clinical safety as their top priority. Our proposals will also ensure that patients voices are heard in regulatory decision making, to ensure the needs of patients are considered when decisions are being made by regulatory bodies.

“We are also seeking feedback on how regulatory decisions can be made across all 18 health workforce regulatory bodies to ensure greater consistency. A streamlined system means more frontline staff available to provide care across the country, delivering shorter wait times and better health outcomes for all New Zealanders.”

Consultation has today opened on changes to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act and the Government wants to hear from patients and our healthcare workers on how the regulatory system can better meet the needs of patients.

New Zealanders can submit their views on the Putting Patients First: Modernising Health Workforce Regulation document at www.health.govt.nz. Consultation closes on 30 April 2025.

Note:

• The Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (the Act) is the law that provides a framework for regulating health practitioners. Its purpose is to protect the health and safety of members of the public by providing mechanisms to ensure the ongoing competence of health practitioners.
• The Act provides for the regulation of recognised health professions. At present, New Zealand has 18 health regulators, known as responsible authorities.
• Not all health professions are regulated under the Act. This does not imply that a profession lacks professional standards. All health professionals providing health or disability services, whether from regulated or self-regulated professions, are subject to the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights.
• The HPCA Act came into force in 2004.
• Public consultation will be open on the Ministry of Health’s online consultation platform from 28 March to 30 April.

Summary: Putting Patients First

© Scoop Media