6275 (2026). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health

6275 (2026). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health: Are 'choosing wisely' or other demand management approaches ever undertaken with private hospitals to ensure the appropriate use of publicly funded laboratory services by these hospitals?

Hon Simeon Brown: I am advised that under the status quo, each laboratory is responsible for deciding what advice to provide to clinicians on the best use of testing. I am further advised however, that Health New Zealand, through its newly formed National Pathology Clinical Network, has work planned to develop a national test stewardship approach to provide national consistency, and that approach is intended to cover all labs and referrers