The New Zealand Health Strategy

Full text version

Date of publication: December 2000This is the full text online version of this document. You can also download this publication in PDF format.

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Chapter 1:
Introduction

The New Zealand Health Strategy sets the platform for the Government’s action on health. It identifies the Government’s present priority areas and aims to ensure that health services are directed at those areas that will ensure the highest benefits for our population, focusing in particular on tackling inequalities in health.

The Government values the diverse expertise and experience that exist within the health sector and with health service users.

Therefore the New Zealand Health Strategy has been developed with the input of a Sector Reference Group and an Expert Advisory Group,1 made up of health service users and providers from different parts of the health sector. These groups have been advising the Ministry of Health on the development of the Strategy and the consultation around it (see Appendix 1).

The New Zealand Health Strategy sits alongside the New Zealand Disability Strategy, which is currently being developed to address issues for people with disabilities.

The development of the New Zealand Health Strategy

The New Zealand Health Strategy: develops the framework for action identifies the Government’s key priority areas provides District Health Boards with the context within which they will operate identifies the way forward.

The New Zealand Health Strategy will continue to be developed and refined over time: it is a living Strategy.

This document establishes the overall framework for action on health and focuses in particular on the issues the Ministry of Health, District Health Boards and health service providers must address.

It outlines the working environment for District Health Boards and will be reflected in funding agreements between them and the Minister of Health. Those agreements will also specify what services District Health Boards will be required to deliver to ensure that people have access to affordable and comprehensive health care.

New Zealand Health Strategy development in the future will: strengthen intersectoral links add specific strategies provide ‘toolkits’ to help District Health Boards best meet their populations’ needs.

Future development of the Strategy will reflect the more established nature of District Health Boards, which will have developed close community and intersectoral links.

The Ministry of Health will carry out further work to identify how priorities can be addressed by District Health Boards while allowing for local flexibility to meet local needs.

For example, ‘toolkits’ will be developed to help District Health Boards address priority health objectives, while health needs assessment exercises will address more local issues. These are discussed in more detail in Chapter 7.



Making choices

The New Zealand Health Strategy tells us what matters most for the health of New Zealanders.

It also highlights the fact that health services are just one of many factors that can keep us healthy, help us recover from ill health or make it easier for us to live with chronic illness. If we really want to make a positive difference to health, we will need to co-ordinate action across different areas of government and address a broad range of social, economic and lifestyle issues.

The health sector has a key role to play, however, and the New Zealand Health Strategy highlights the principles that the health sector will uphold – within the money available.

We all know that living within a budget means making choices. Money spent on one thing cannot be spent on anything else. Deciding how best to spend our money means making choices about what we need the most, what we value and which things will give us the greatest benefit.


The Government faces the same choices when it decides how best to spend the money it has available each year.

First, it has to work out what should go to health and what should be spent on other important services such as education, social welfare benefits and superannuation.

Then, when the size of the health budget has been fixed, more decisions have to be made about what types of health services to fund and how to share resources fairly among New Zealanders.

Choices have to be made in health. Even if the Government decides to spend more on health services, there will still be a need to choose between competing demands to ensure that money is used to best effect. It will never be possible for the Government to do everything for everyone.

The New Zealand Health Strategy is an important document because it explains what sorts of health services are most important to New Zealanders. In doing so, it reflects the views of experts and the public.

It therefore provides a sound basis for the Ministry of Health and the new District Health Boards to understand where New Zealanders’ priorities lie and to decide how best to spend money and develop services that reflect those priorities. The adoption of priority areas does not mean the Ministry of Health and District Health Boards can neglect other areas, but it does mean the priority areas will get special emphasis when funding decisions are being made.


District Health Boards will carry out health needs assessment with their local communities. This, together with other consultation, will help the District Health Boards identify appropriate time frames for implementing the national priorities identified in this Strategy.

A detailed discussion on consultation is given in Appendix 3. District Health Boards will agree on the specific areas on which they will focus in funding agreements entered into with the Minister of Health. Those funding agreements will contain clear, measurable performance indicators that will allow progress to be measured.