Primary Health Care

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Governance of Primary Health Organisations

Improving the governance arrangements of PHOs is a key priority for the Minister of Health. Clarity of purpose and shared vision was identified as a key requirement for PHOs at a governance workshop held in Wellington in November 2006. PHO boards need to be better supported through the provision of educational material and relevant board member training. To support this, the Ministry:

• with the assistance of a sector advisory group, has drafted a Governance Guide that aims to clarify the purpose and expectations of PHOs, the principles of good governance and the roles and responsibilities of board members
• is funding DHBNZ to administer the development and delivery of tailored governance training to PHO board members, and delivery of this training will commence in the first half of the 2007/08 financial year.

PHO Governance Guide

With the assistance of a sector advisory group, the Ministry has drafted a Governance Guide for PHO boards. The Guide is broken into four parts:

• Part 1: Context and Overview – this section outlines the goals and objectives of the Primary Health Care Strategy, and the governance role of Primary Health Organisations
• Part 2: Board Functioning – this section outlines guidelines and principles of good governance including board processes and the roles and responsibilities of board members
• Part 3: Relationships – this section describes relationships between the board and the chief executive, the PHO and the community, and the PHO and DHB
• Part 4: Monitoring and Evaluating Performance – this section describes the processes for monitoring and evaluating performance

The Ministry would appreciate your feedback and comments on the draft Governance Guide. In particular we would like to hear your views on:

• the content and structure of the Governance Guide – including any additional topics that should be included
• whether it will be a useful tool for new board members – or suggestions on how it could be improved.

Feedback

The guide is available to download in Word and PDF format below:

Governance Guide For Primary Health Organisations (Word, 2 MB)
Governance Guide For Primary Health Organisations (PDF, 398 KB)

Feedback can be provided to Hannah O’Donnell:

Hannah O’Donnell
Primary Health Care Delivery
Clinical Services Directorate
Ministry of Health
P O Box 5013
Wellington

Email: Hannah_O’Donnell@moh.govt.nz
Ph: 04 496 2113

The final date for feedback is Friday 8 June 2007. The final revised Governance Guide will be available to PHOs by the end of July 2007.