Healthcare System Restructuring in New Zealand: problems and proposed solutions

Abstract

New Zealand’s healthcare system is, like most, in a continual process of restructuring and change. While the country has endured several major system-wide changes in recent decades, more recent change has been incremental and evolutionary. Current changes are in response to a set of challenges, which are not unique to New Zealand. This article overviews the New Zealand healthcare system. It then describes a series of problems facing the system and proposed solutions. These include the need for team care, providing services closer to patients’ homes, focusing on a population of interest, connecting up the system, and engaging patients more closely in care design and delivery. Abbreviations: DHS – District Health Board;GP – General Practitioner; PHO – Primary Health Organisation.