81018 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health

81018 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health: What progress, if any, has occurred to achieve the initiative 'Deploy nationally consistent waitlist management guidelines to tackle unwarranted variation between districts and implement appropriate prioritisation strategies for high-need patients' included on page 15 of High Level Implementation Plans - Achieving the Health Targets, as at 16 December 2024?

Hon Dr Shane Reti: I am advised that the first two modules of the national planned care patient pathway – which focus on consistent national standards for referral management, waitlisting, and suspension policy – have been endorsed by Health New Zealand's national planned care governance team. They are now being subject to a final review, and will be deployed nationally this year.