Blue Jackie: New Zealand Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Blue Jackie: New Zealand Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:663;Page:11035] 
Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) 
: 
 I am pleased to speak to the first reading of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill. The bill proposes legislative amendments necessary to support reforms recommended by the ministerial review group earlier this year. 
Importantly the bill is not about a major restructure of the health system; it is about trying to get the health system working. The health sector has been struggling. There are 21 district health boards working in 21 different ways. There has been duplication they have been working inefficiently and they have been reinventing the wheel in 21 different ways. One provision of the bill is to provide shared administrative support and procurement services across the public health system including additional powers such as ministerial direction to enhance ministerial ability to require greater system collaboration and use of shared services. 
The Minister of Health has already made a number of changes to help improve the way the health sector works. He introduced six health targets so that the district health boards could focus on the urgent issues of reducing excessive patient waiting-times in public hospitals and providing more elective surgery faster cancer treatment and shorter waits in emergency departments. The Minister has been concerned about our health workforce. Too often New Zealand seems to be a training ground for Australia. New Zealand has had a health workforce crisis with too many clinicians disengaged and leaving the country. The Clinical Training Agency was established to unify workforce planning in New Zealand and to ensure coordination of workforce training planning and funding for our nurses doctors and other health professionals. The Minister has also gradually increased the number of appointed district health board members who sit on more than one neighbouring board particularly people with health and financial expertise. 
The ministerial review group report was a landmark document. It recommended how New Zealand might improve the quality and performance of the public health system. It was a comprehensive report with 170 recommendations on how to reduce bureaucracy improve front-line health services and improve value in the public health and disability sector. The report recognised that to improve front-line services we need more input from front-line staff and there were recommendations to strengthen clinical leadership and clinical networks. The report proposed consolidating back-office functions across the 21 district health boards to harness the power of bulk purchasing. It also proposed reducing the number of committees that advise the Ministry of Health from 157 to 54. The Minister is right on track with the report’s recommendations. This bill is about ensuring that the momentum continues. 
The proposed changes represent a major drive for better value for money in our public health sector. They will enable greater national and regional cooperation in the sector and reduce duplication and bureaucracy. These changes will enable us to improve efficiency and move more resources to the front line. I commend this bill to the House. 
Bill read a first time.  
Bill referred to the Health Committee.