Health New Zealand will shift more operational decision-making to regional and district levels from 1 July, under changes announced by Simeon Brown aimed at giving hospitals greater control over workforce decisions, budgets and service delivery.
The new structure will allow regional and district leaders to make decisions on staffing, resource deployment and local services without requiring central approval, while national leadership will continue to oversee strategy, standards and system-wide planning.
Brown said the move is intended to place decision-making closer to patients, communities and frontline staff, arguing that the current model has become overly centralised since the health system restructuring carried out under Health New Zealand during the pandemic. He said the changes are not a return to the former District Health Board model, but are designed to reduce bureaucracy, improve responsiveness when demand rises, and give local services greater flexibility to meet health targets within their budgets.
Hospitals will also be able to recruit and deploy staff more quickly, with the Government saying the new framework is intended to reduce wait times and improve access to care through a nationally planned but locally delivered health system.
Image credit: Adhy Savala
You mean like we had before and that worked
Eeven better put everything back to 1975 logic where everything was pretty good.
Terrible idea.
We want our Health Boards back, you STINKING NWO COMMUNISTS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah how about giving them more finding too……
God help you if you need medical treatment in a regional hospital.
Says it’s not a return to DHBs, but kind of looks/feels that way 🤔