10871 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health

10871 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health: What progress, if any, has been made in the quarter October – December 2023 to ‘Implement regional equity accountability measures, to set clear expectations that specialist and hospital services are responsible for achieving equitable outcomes’ under section 3.5 ‘Networked hospital and specialist service delivery’ within Te Whatu Ora’s Te Pae Tata: Interim New Zealand Health Plan 2022?

Hon Dr Shane Reti: I am advised that in the October – December 2023 quarter, Health New Zealand made progress in developing the operational cadence and tools to understand variation in performance, including equity measures at a local and regional level. Health NZ continues to build capability within the National Performance Monitoring framework. The framework enables Health NZ to drill down into hotspots that need support, and to develop the mechanisms to turn national and regional insights into action at a local level. This includes supporting districts and regions to develop improvement plans, and establishing the national Intensive Support Team which started working with some districts in April to identify and implement actions to improve equity of access to, and outcomes from, care.