HFA funding agreement ensures improvement

Media Release – 25 August 2000

HFA funding agreement ensures continuing improvement to health services

The Health Funding Authority's agreement with the Minister of Health for the 2000/2001 financial year would see continued improvement to health services, Chief Executive, Peter Hughes, said today.

Mr Hughes said he was pleased that work on key programmes would continue unabated, following the completion of the Authority's Funding Agreement for the current year.

"The HFA has started a number of important projects that will improve health and disability services and this agreement commits the sector to continuing progress right through the change process," he said.

"Work will continue through our integration with the Ministry of Health. We are aiming for a seamless integration that will mean many of the same key staff will continue working on these initiatives", said Mr Hughes.

The Funding Agreement documents the targets and programmes that the Health
Funding Authority has agreed with the Minister of Health. The HFA is monitored against these commitments by the Ministry of Health.

"We are still moving forward," Mr Hughes said.

Copies of the Funding Agreement are available from the Authority’s website, at www.hfa.govt.nz.

[ends]

For more information: Rob Eaddy
04 460 4926
025 227 4070

HIGHLIGHTS

Health Funding Authority Funding Agreement, 2000/01

Develop a Mental Health Child & Youth Plan
The HFA will develop a mental health child and youth work plan to align service delivery to the needs of children and youth, contributing to the Crown’s objective for mental health.

The child and youth mental health work plan will:
 identify and prioritise key areas for the allocation of new funding
 include a focus on specialist mental health services.

Elective Surgery
By the end of November, the HFA is expected to achieve the following:
 100% of first specialist assessments completed within six months of receipt of referral.
 All patients given certainty about their plan of care, including care category, as part of the assessment process.
 All hospital services fully compliant with national minimum dataset requirements, including providing national booking reporting data to the NZHIS data warehouse.
 Final national referral and clinical priority assessment guidelines for all major surgical services implemented in relevant hospital services. Process for ongoing review and improvement of the tools (through research and evaluation) identified and underway.

Development of Pacific Providers
Purchase further Pacific Provider Development with the additional $1.35 million (GST exclusive) made available by the Government in June 2000 plus an amount from HFA baseline funding to be agreed with the HFA, in accordance with a plan developed/agreed with the Ministry and approved by the Minister of Health.

Child Health
Implement the initiatives/action plans for 2000 as detailed in the HFA’s Child Health Business Plan, Schedule Five. These initiatives focus on the following key aspects of child health:
 improving the coverage of preventative services
 improving access and targeting
 involving families
 child health Information.

Implement a Purchase Approach for Autism Services
The HFA will:
 do initial work to address the service gaps in support of children and adults, focusing on people with high support needs
 work towards addressing the lack of awareness of Autistic Spectrum Disorder issues across professional groups. This will include information and family packs for families, training trainers, and diagnosis, assessment, and re-assessment. This will also include a focus on early intervention
 work towards strengthening inter-agency protocols for seamless provision of services and effective safety nets.
 Work to ensure that adequate respite and behavioural support are available for families and carers, and are improved.

Patient Travel and Accommodation
The HFA will develop and implement a nationally consistent policy for meeting the costs of travel, accommodation and patient transfers.

Emergency Services
The HFA will establish five regional emergency care co-ordination teams. These teams will provide leadership, oversight and monitoring of each of five regional networks of emergency services.

The networks will be collaborative and involve all emergency care providers in each region. This will be in accordance with the concept outlined in the joint-agency publication: Roadside to Bedside – Developing a 24-hour Clinically Integrated Acute Management System for New Zealand.

Improve Services in Porirua and on the Kapiti Coast
The HFA will fund the following initiatives:
 additional diabetes services to achieve better control and treatment of diabetic symptoms and reduced morbidity associated with diabetes
 additional asthma services to achieve better control of asthma and reduced A&E presentations and hospitalisations
 a local provider led child health information system to improve immunisation coverage
 additional Pacific peoples primary services to reduce key health disparities
 improved outpatient services
 improved maternity services.

The HFA will take part in a Capital Coast Health Ltd led review of accident and emergency services available in Porirua and the Kapiti region. This review will identify options for providing emergency services on a 24 hour basis by 2001/02 for people in the Porirua and Kapiti region.

Improve Services in South Auckland
The HFA will expand the range of health integration projects it funds in South Auckland, and identify more effective ways of delivering childhood immunisations.

The Authority will allocate a $4 million integration budget to initiatives that improve Maori health, Pacific health, child and youth health in South Auckland. The initiatives will be determined through consultation with an intersectoral steering group that includes Ministry of Health, health providers, other sectors and the community.

Evaluating the Impact of Existing Programmes
The HFA will evaluate several major public health programmes to determine the contribution they are making to the health status of New Zealanders. These evaluations will cover tobacco control, destigmatisation, and breast cancer screening.

Funding Services in the HFA’s 8 Maori Health Gain Priority Areas
The HFA has approved eight Maori Health Gain Priority Areas: Smoking, Immunisation, Diabetes, Oral Health, Hearing, Asthma, Injury Prevention and Mental Health. The HFA will purchase and contract for services that align with these priority areas. This measure builds upon the earlier work already undertaken by the HFA.

Rural Health
Maintain premiums to recognise the additional costs of operating rural hospitals as part of the HHS purchasing framework, and carry out a stocktake of rural health services.

Continue Work on Development of other strategies, including the NZ Health Strategy
HFA perspectives will be provided on the following existing strategies during development of the New Zealand Health Strategy:
 Whaia te Ora mo te iwi
 New Zealand youth suicide prevention strategy: In Our Hands/Kia Piki Te Ora O Te Taitamariki
 national drug policy
 strategies for the prevention and control of diabetes
 breast cancer control strategy
 child health strategy
 sexual and reproductive health strategy
 Looking Forward and Moving Forward; the national mental health strategy
 maternity services strategy
 Pacific health strategy.

A continued HFA contribution will also be required to support development of the New Zealand Disability Strategy.

© Scoop Media