Reti said he was confident that the appointment of a Crown observer would help the Health NZ board and management to overcome a range of issues, including workforce shortages and hospital wait times.
“Mr Whelan commences his role immediately, and will independently advise me through formal quarterly reporting, and other updates as necessary.”
Reti said he wanted to reassure Health NZ staff that the appointment was not a reflection on their hard work.
“Mr Whelan’s role is to focus on the wider reform process and address a lack of oversight from the previous government,” he said.
“His appointment will assist and support the board of Health NZ in refocusing on health outcomes.”
Reti said that the reforms were meant to achieve better health results for all New Zealanders but had so far “spent more money, achieved more bureaucracy and delivered little more than longer waiting lists, dire workforce shortages and worse outcomes”.
A quarterly performance report published this morning showed Health NZ was heading in the wrong direction on many of its key metrics compared with a year ago, including avoidable hospitalisations, surgical waitlists and timely specialist appointments.
Modest progress was being made in some areas, such as immunisation rates, mental health wait times and cancer treatment.
Health NZ’s interim chief clinical officer Richard Sullivan said the health system was under pressure from a growing, ageing population and a rise in people with chronic and complex conditions like diabetes and cardiac disease.
“Despite the challenges, our incredible workforce does its best, something we recognise and appreciate. For example, in the year to June 2023, we delivered nearly 20,000 more planned care interventions compared to the previous year – a 6.4 per cent increase in surgeries or treatments for New Zealanders requiring hospital care.”
He added: “We have also significantly reduced the number of people waiting longer than a year for treatment, reducing that list by over 12,300 people since July. We are now focused on addressing wait times for first specialist appointments with significant work underway in this area.”
The latest performance data showed 59,817 people waited more than four months for their first specialist appointment between July and September, up from 35,863 for the same quarter last year.
National has promised to scrap the Maori Health Authority but Reti has promised no further reform of Health NZ, saying the sector has already dealt with enough upheaval.
Isaac Davison is an Auckland-based reporter who covers health issues. He joined the Herald in 2008 and has previously covered the environment, politics, and social issues.
