Simeon Brown: Health Minister on the Government's new targets designed to refocus the health system

Health Minister Simeon Brown says the Government want patients to be able to see the clear benefits of health infrastructure investments.

The Government has approved a suite of amendments to the Healthy Futures Act, put in place in 2022, that it hopes will strengthen the performance of Health New Zealand.

Brown says these changes needed to be put in place to ensure the health system could be focused on delivering results over successive Governments.

"We've got to focus on improving the timeliness of elective surgeries, specialist appointments and ensuring our young children are getting those immunisations. It's actually just about making sure that the system knows what the focuses should be focused on - and holding it accountable."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks I'd be now.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Yesterday, Health Minister Samon Brown announced a raft of law
changes to refocus the health system on results. He joins me, now,
good morning, minister, thank you very much for your time.
Let just go Why why do we need legislation for
health targets?

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Well, the last government got rid of health targets and
everything went backwards, and our viewers that we need to
have these in law so that over the successive governments
the health system is focused on the results that matter
most to patients and that's making sure they get seen
quickly in emergency departments that we have focused on improving
the time and this around elective surgeries, specialist appointments and

(00:51):
ensuring our young children getting those immunizations. And it's actually
just about making sure the system knows what the focus
it should be focused on and then holding it accountable
for that.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Okay, So why was this necessary though? Is there a
lack of focus on results and outcomes ordered those within
the health system not have what they need to deliver The.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
Results were putting record investment into the health system. We've
got seventeen hundred more nurses working at Health New Zealand
in twenty twenty three two hundred more doctors. But ultimately
the system also needs to be focused on what those
key priorities are, and that's around timeliness of appointments, making
sure we're getting here of those elective surgeries in a
timely manner, that people are seeing quickly in emergency departments,

(01:34):
and about ensuring that we are focused on things like
fast cancer treatments. So by putting this into law, it
focuses the system. It seems a very clear message as
to what the government's priorities are and requires the system
to deliver on that over the long term.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Okay, so the whole idea here is that you're holding
the system to account.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
That's right, what the government puts one in every five
dollars it spends into the health system, and we want
to make sure that that money is going towards delivering
on those priorities that matter most to patients, and that
all parts of the system know what those priorities are.
And that then allows for transper currency through the regular
reporting of that information so the public can see it,
so that the health the health bureaucracy and also all

(02:14):
parts of the House system know what those priorities are,
know how it's performing, and can see where it needs to.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Improve and then how do you see this flowing on
to know so the patients can benefit from this well.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
Ultimately, through regular reporting and through the system being focused
on outcomes, we're able to see improvements for patients. One
of the things we've done since I became the Minister
of Houses, we've launched the Elective Boost, which is about
reducing the time it takes some people to get those
really important elective surgeries like hip operation, knee operations, cadreact
operations by outsourcing that through to the private sector and

(02:48):
getting more private sector involvement, maximizing what's delivered both in
the public and private system, and we've been able to
see an additional nine and a half thousand patients receive
their elective treatments in the last few months because we
haven't been ideological about it. We've been focusing on pragmatic solutions,
getting patients seen and the timely by maximizing what's being
able to be delivered both in the public and private system,

(03:10):
which is what's good for patients.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
Okay, so We've got really good figures with those elective surgeries.
Is this an approach that you would use going forward
because I imagine that the list will only grow again.

Speaker 3 (03:21):
Look, absolutely, we're committed to continuing to maximize what can
be delivered across the public and private system. This is
about ultimately getting patients seen quickly. But this is something
that needs to continue to happen so that we can
continue to reduce the number of people waiting for those surgeries.
The weight lists ballooned over the last six years. That's

(03:42):
unacceptable for patients and I'm committed to continuing to use
both the public and private system to make sure we
reduce that weight list and ensure patients get seen in
a timely manner.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
Okay, what about what are your other priorities when it
comes to targets that you're legislating for.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, the other targets that we've got is around childhood immunizations. Again,
it dropped significantly under the last government. We're starting to
see progress on that important measure, and that's critically important
to make sure that we're able to invest in preventative measures,
and that's really important. Other targets include our shortest stays
and emergency departments, and we're starting to see progress with

(04:20):
the number of people being seen within six hours improving.
But this is all about sending a very clear message
about what's important for patients and having the system held
to account as to what needs to be delivered, and
then that regular reporting so we can see where the
problems are and then address them.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
Okay, and what happens if they aren't met well.

Speaker 3 (04:38):
Ultimately, that's where the government and Health New Zealand work
together to address those issues and those concerns and said,
we've invested record money into health. We've put seven percent
increased in fund seven percent increase in funding into health
in this year's budget. We've got more nurses, more doctors,
and we continue to make sure that the system delivers
for patients. That's the focus. That's why these targets are there,

(05:02):
so we can highlight where the issues are and then
work to address them.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Talk to me about infrastructure. Will the changes you're making
in that area deliver the infrastructure the health system needs?

Speaker 3 (05:13):
Well, there's two challenges are here in terms of health infrastructure.
The first is we've underinvested in infrastructure health infrastructure over
a long period of time. The average age of health
buildings is around forty seven years, and so there's a
significant need to invest. The second issue is so that
means we need to invest more, and that's why we've
released the Health Infrastructure Plan which identifies that, and we've

(05:35):
put a billion dollars additional funding in this year's budget.
But the second issue is actually of the money we
put into health infrastructure, we need to make sure it's
actually delivering on time and within budget. And that's where
there's been a significant issue within Health New Zealand around
delays to big projects or cost blowouts. And so one

(05:55):
of the changes that we're proposing in this legislation is
to put in place a Health Infrastructure Governance Committee in
Health New Zealand which is focused simply on delivering those
projects on time and within budget and putting a group
of experts in place to help Health New Zealand fix
that problem. And that's really important because I'm keen. I

(06:16):
want to see the Health New Zealand Board focused on
delivery for patients and I want to see this part
of the organization focused on delivering that infrastructure on time
and within budget, so we can get that infrastructure built
and delivering those benefits to patients and the health workers
who use it.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
Samon Brown very much appreciate your time on a Sunday morning.
Thank you for talking us through that.

Speaker 3 (06:37):
Thank you very much, have a good day.

Speaker 2 (06:39):
That's it. There we go.

Speaker 1 (06:41):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks THEREB from nine am Sunday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.