Winston Peters answers questions about whether he informed the Prime Minister of Phil Goff's sacking and Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran resigns. Video / NZ Herald
The return of the board, expected to be around July, will mark the end of the reign of Health Commissioner Professor Lester Levy, who was brought in under Brown’s predecessor, Dr Shane Reti, to address the troubled organisation.
Brown broke the news in a speech to business leaders in Auckland, where he set out his priorities. He told reporters that Levy and deputy commissioners Roger Jarrold, Ken Whelan and Kylie Clegg had his “full confidence.”
“The commissioners have been brought in to stabilise Health New Zealand and set a very clear direction about where we are going,” Brown said.
“They have now done that and now we need to go back to more traditional governance.”
The Government moved to take control of the troubled health agency last July by appointing Levy as commissioner for a 12-month term.
Health NZ Commissioner Professor Lester Levy during the health select committee hearing at Parliament in December. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Appointing a commissioner was the strongest intervention available to the Health Minister under the Pae Ora Act, the legislation that created Health NZ by merging the former district health boards (DHBs).
Levy’s term as commissioner ends this July. Whether he stays at the organisation in another capacity remains to be seen.
Brown centred several of his answers to reporters on “nationally planned but locally delivered” services. He said the previous Labour Government had created an “overly bureaucratic system” when it combined the country’s DHBs.
“We want to see more of the regions and the districts have clear output plans, clear budgets, and delivering against that and empowering them to make decisions.”
Health NZ had “failed to create a cohesive team to lead the organisation forward,” Brown added.
“Health New Zealand has struggled to come together as a cohesive team that supports the organisation to deliver for patients.
“Senior leadership team members have only just begun weekly in-person meetings, and have continued to operate from different offices, despite the majority living in Auckland and the organisation being two and a half years old.
“Today, I’m outlining my expectations for Health NZ to deliver a nationally planned and consistent, but locally delivered, health system.”
One of Brown’s priorities is reducing emergency department wait times.
He said he expected Health NZ to:
1. Review hospital systems from admission to discharge, ensuring patients flow smoothly.
2. Empower clinicians at local levels to fix bottlenecks in real time.
3. Integrate the primary care reforms, so fewer preventable cases end up in emergency departments. This will be done by hiring and training more doctors and nurses and ensuring New Zealanders have access to round-the-clock care.
“The relationship between our hospitals and primary care is critically important but has broken down in recent years and needs to be fixed.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon with Health Minister Simeon Brown. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Brown also announced an investment of $50 million between now and the end of June to reduce the backlog of people waiting for elective surgeries.
He said this would result in an extra 10,579 procedures between now and the middle of this year and work was under way to negotiate longer-term agreements.
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
