Health and Independence Report 2007

Health and Independence Report 2007
Date of publication: October 2007

Table of Contents:

From the Minister of Health

From the Director-General of Health

1 Introduction

2 Progress on Headline Indicators

3 Improving Quality

4 Health Targets

5 References

Appendix: Additional input, output and outcome data

Summary
Publication availability
Publishing information
Related information

Summary
The Health and Indepedence Report 2007 combines the Minister’s report to Parliament on progress on implementing the New Zealand Health Strategy with the Director-General of Health’s report to Parliament on the state of the public health.

The report outlines progress on implementing the New Zealand Health Strategy and progress on 39 Headline Indicators of health system performance. These indicators are interspersed with six stories illustrating how the New Zealand health system is affecting ordinary New Zealanders. The report also contains a description of quality and safety developments and sets out the 10 national Health Targets to highlight future directions.

This report also presents a range of data on health inequalities and progress toward reducing these. It includes updates on activities in Māori health and Pacific health that will result in greater participation by these groups in the health sector workforce and governance.

Additional statistical information (as included in previous Health and Independence Reports) is provided as an electronic annex to the report. This annex includes workforce information and health system throughput data.

Key findings and highlights in the report include:

The health system is broad and diverse, touching the lives of many New Zealanders in a variety of ways. For example, in the past year, 2006/07:

17.3 million visits were made to general practitioners and nurses in Primary Health Organisations (PHOs)
46.4 million prescription items were dispensed
23.2 million laboratory tests were performed
681,102 hospital discharges for medical and surgical services occurred
91,092 people accessed mental health services
418,332 cervical smears were taken
440,392 free influenza vaccinations were given
74,902 free annual checks for people with diabetes were undertaken
1.69 million personal care and home management hours provided for older people
20,211 ‘green’ prescriptions (advice on exercise or nutrition) were dispensed.

Sixty-nine percent of primary care doctors reported that almost all of their patients (more than 80 percent) could obtain a same-day or next-day appointment when they needed one. Only 52 percent of Australian and 23 percent of Canadian primary care doctors reported providing similar access to the majority of their patients.

Cancer survival is a key outcome measure of cancer control and provides useful insights into the effectiveness of health care in detecting and treating cancer. The five-year relative survival rate has increased for the five major cancer sites (breast, cervical, lung, prostate and colorectal).

Overall New Zealanders' life expectancy continues to improve. A newborn girl can expect to live, on average, 81.9 years and a newborn boy 77.9 years. This represents a gain since 1995-97 of 2.2 years for females and 3.5 years for males.

The Year 10 Smoking Survey found the daily smoking prevalence in Year 10 students (14 and15-year-olds) dropped from 17.1 percent to 10.1 percent in girls and from 14.1 percent to 6.2 percent in boys over 1999–2006.

Since 2001/02 elective service volumes (adjusted for relative resources used) have increased 12.5 per cent. In the last year, elective service volumes have increased by over 5 percent.

Indicators of hospital care quality show good trends. Over the last four years hospital mortality rates have been steadily declining and the vast majority of these deaths occur in the 85 year-and-older age group. The rate of readmissions to hospital has changed very little in the last five years, however, the average length of patient stay in hospital has been steadily declining. This pattern indicates the quality of service in hospitals has improved.

Between 1996–99 and 2001–04 inequalities in mortality between ethnic groups decreased - more so for Māori than for Pacific people. The decline in mortality for all ethnic groups over this period can be attributed to a progressive reduction in the incidence and deaths from cardiovascular disease, ischaemic heart disease and stroke. The contribution of cardiovascular disease to the ethnic inequality in mortality has been replaced by an increasing contribution from cancer.

Recent achievements related to the New Zealand Health Strategy include the March 2007 launch of the new National Drug Policy 2007-2012 (Ministerial Committee on Drug Policy 2007) with a goal to prevent and reduce the health, social and economic harms that are linked to tobacco, alcohol, illegal and other drug use.

In August 2007 new guidelines for the Violence Intervention Programme were launched. These aim to ensure that victims of violence, who use health services receive the support they require and that staff are trained and competent to screen patients who may be victims of child and partner abuse. To date more than 4500 health professionals have been trained in family violence intervention, the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society has screened 29,200 new mothers for violence and made 600 referrals, and in the past year 500 general practitioners and midwives have been trained in family violence prevention.

The appendix section details additional data about system inputs, outputs and outcomes. The input section includes information about the health workforce, system funding and services expenditure. Personal health service outputs (including medical and surgical discharge rates) and mental health service outputs are also covered.

Publication availability
You can read the Health and Independence Report 2007 online by using the left hand navigation or you can download the PDF below:

Health and Independence Report 2007 (PDF, 787 KB)

Appendix: Additional input, output and outcome data (PDF, 590 KB)

This publication is also available in hard copy. You can order a copy by emailing moh@wickliffe.co.nz or calling 04 496 2277 quoting HP number 4466. Please let us know your name, your physical address and how many copies you would like.

Read our copyright information

Go to information about ordering and downloading publications

Publishing information
Date of publication: October 2007

ISBN: 978-0-478-31203-4 (Print)
ISBN: 978-0-478-31204-1 (Online)

HP 4466

Citation: Ministry of Health and Minister of Health. 2007. Health and Independence Report 2007. Wellington: Ministry of Health.

Related information

Annual Reports
Health and Independence Reports