Health Targets

Improving Elective Services

What is the target?

Each DHB will maintain compliance in all Elective Services Patient Flow Indicators (ESPIs).

Each DHB will set an agreed increase in the number of elective service discharges and will provide the level of service agreed.

How many DHBs are meeting the targets?

20 DHBs have fully compliant ESPIs for the May 2007 results. At a service level 79% of DHB services are fully compliant. Each DHB has between 6 and 13 services.

Services commonly found in DHBs include general surgery, orthopaedics, ENT, ophthalmology, gynaecology, urology and dental. Other services commonly provided by tertiary DHBs include cardio-thoracic, plastics, oral-maxillo-facial, neuro-surgery, paediatric surgery and vascular surgery.

The additional electives funding will fund a 5% increase in discharges for 2006/07 and a 10% increase in 2007/08. Information on the actual increase for 2006/07 will be available in August 2007.

How have DHBs set targets for ESPIs?

DHBs have been encouraged to set internal levels that are better than the Ministry of Health compliance threshold. Achievement will be measured against the Ministry compliance threshold.

Have DHBs agreed the level of elective services discharges, including the amount of increase?

DHBs are currently agreeing base volumes of elective services with the Ministry. The new elective services funding will be used to invest in services where there are barriers to access, and the recent Standardised Discharge Ratio (SDR) work will inform these discussions.

What work is being done to ensure equity?

The Ministry's Elective Services Team is exploring ways to better understand the nature and extent of inequalities in access to, and outcomes from, elective services. This work will help focus this target area on achieving equity into the future.

How is the information collected?

ESPI information is collected through the National Booking Reporting System (NBRS) and service delivery information is collected through the National Minimum Data Set (NMDS).

What else needs to be done to achieve these targets?

The Ministry Elective Services Team works closely with DHBs to support the achievement of sound patient flow management processes. Focus on ESPI compliance will continue to be a priority.

The Ministry Elective Services Team is also working closely with DHBs on the investment of the new elective services funding.

Who is the Ministry of Health champion of this target?

Karen Orsborn, Manager, Elective Services

Progress on the Target to date - Quarter Three update, July 2008

View a summary on progress towards this Target for Quarters One, Two and Three, from the Ministry of Health Target champion, and more detailed information (eg, graphs and their source data) on the Improving Elective Services Quarterly Reports page.

Specific information on each DHB's progress towards their local targets is provided on their individual pages. You can access them on the Targets by DHB page.

Related information

In this section:
Targets by DHB
Elective Services Success Story

In other sections in this website:
Elective Services section

Page last updated: 18 July 2008