Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2002
Director-General’s Report
Date of publication: October 2002
Highlights in 2001/02
Primary Health Care Strategy and Primary Health Organisations
The Government announced major changes to the funding and delivery of primary health care services during 2001/02 and the Ministry has been working on a number of programmes to support these changes. The Government has provided funding of $50 million in 2002/03, $165 million in 2003/04 and $195 million in 2004/05 to implement the Primary Health Care Strategy. This primary health care focus aims to improve health, reduce health inequalities between population groups, and improve access to primary health care services.
The establishment and development of Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) has been the key feature of these changes. The Ministry developed minimum requirements, guidelines to establishment, service specifications and proposed operational policies. The first PHOs, Te Kupenga o Hoturoa and TaPasefika in Counties Manukau DHB, were formally established on 1 July 2002.
The Health Funding Package
The details of the Health Funding Package were announced in the Budget on 23 May 2002. The package specifies the additional funding for Vote Health over the next three years and comprises $400 million of new funding for 2002/03, $800 million for 2003/04 and $1.2 billion for 2004/05 (the equivalent of $400 million of new funding each year). The additional resources and three-year horizon is designed to provide DHBs with certainty for longer-term planning to deliver the best range and quality of health and disability services.
He Korowai Oranga (Māori Health Strategy)
He Korowai Oranga (Māori Health Strategy Discussion Document) was released in April 2001. He Korowai Oranga builds on the framework established by the New Zealand Health Strategy and recognises that Māori whanau, hapu, iwi and communities want improved health status, reduced health inequalities and increased control over the direction and shape of their own institutions, communities and development as a people. The overall aim of He Korowai Oranga is whanau ora: Māori families supported to achieve maximum health and wellbeing.
Pacific Health and Disability Action Plan
The Pacific Health and Disability Action Plan was released in February 2002. The Plan aims to reduce health inequalities, improve the overall health of Pacific peoples and ensure higher quality care and services are available. Around $15 million over three years has been made available to support related initiatives.
Health of Older People Strategy
The Health of Older People Strategy was released in April 2002 following consultation on a draft strategy. The primary concern of the Strategy is to develop an integrated approach to health and disability support services for older people through the concept of a continuum of care. It outlines a Ministry work programme to provide the national framework for implementation and identifies action steps for DHBs to develop an integrated approach to service provision.
WAVE Report (Working to Add Value through E-information)
The WAVE Report was released by the Ministry in October 2001 and examines the ways the health sector could better manage information for the benefit of New Zealanders. It examines how health information is stored, shared, accessed and how information can be more efficiently managed and kept secure. The Ministry has made steady progress on the majority of its top 10 recommendations, which include collecting reliable ethnicity data, gathering primary health care information and creating consistent messaging standards.
Quality and Safety in 2001/02
Improving the quality and safety of health and disability services has been a central tenet of the Ministry’s work. The Ministry has overseen the final drafting and passage of the Health and Disability (Safety) Act, the drafting of the Health Practitioners’ Competence Assurance Bill, as well as developing a draft New Zealand Health Sector Quality Improvement Strategy. Several publications examining quality and safety issues were also produced, including Reportable Events - Guidelines, the Sentinel Events Workbook and Toward Clinical Excellence.
DHB Elections
The first DHB elections were held in October 2001. One hundred and forty-seven members were elected to the 21 DHBs. Balloting was by postal voting. The remaining board members were appointed by the Minister.
First report on the Implementation of the New Zealand Disability Strategy
The first annual report on implementing the New Zealand Disability Strategy, Progress in Implementing the New Zealand Disability Strategy was released in February 2002. The report outlines the activities of 10 key departments from 1 July 2001 to 30 September 2001.
Te Puawaitanga, Māori Mental Health National Strategic Framework
Te Puawaitanga, the Māori Mental Health National Strategic Framework was released in April 2002 to provide DHBs with a nationally consistent framework for planning and delivering services for tangata whaiora and their whanau. It sets out key policy statements as strategic five-year goals, which are further developed into five- and three-year objectives.
Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy
Phase One of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy was released in October 2001 and provides the overarching direction and framework for a series of action plans covering priority areas in sexual and reproductive health.
Nursing Workforce
The Ministry has concentrated on supporting the development of new and innovative models of nursing during 2001/02 such as the role of the nurse practitioner. A number of strategies to retain and recruit nurses, to raise the profile of nursing and to develop mechanisms to collect workforce information have been progressed.
Meningococcal Vaccine Strategy
The first significant step in the Meningococcal Vaccine Strategy process took place in July 2001 when the Ministry signed an agreement for ongoing vaccine development and supply for clinical trials in adults. A subsequent agreement for the manufacture of a vaccine for the completion of the clinical trials and a mass vaccination campaign to combat the New Zealand strain of the disease was signed in March 2002.
National Cervical Screening Programme
The Ministry continued to implement the recommendations of the Ministerial Inquiry into the Under-Reporting of Cervical Smear Abnormalities in the Gisborne Region (the Gisborne Ministerial Inquiry). A key milestone was reached in May 2002 when the Ministry received final approval from the country’s 13 regional health and disability ethics committees to contact women who have been diagnosed with cervical cancer to be involved in the Audit of Invasive Cervical Cancers. The Health (Screening Programmes) Amendment Bill was also introduced during 2001/02, which aims to improve the way the programme is evaluated in the future.
Healthy Action – Healthy Eating
The draft strategy Healthy Action – Healthy Eating: Oranga Pumau – Oranga Kai was released in February 2002. This strategy calls for a more integrated approach to physical activity, nutrition and healthy weight. It also calls on the health sector to reorient its funding and delivery of services to strengthen and create intersectoral links and partnerships. Nutrition and activity are critical if we are to manage chronic disease epidemics such as diabetes.
Karen O Poutasi (Dr)
Director-General of Health
Ministry of Health
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About the Ministry of Health: Key publications
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