Health Minister Announces Practical Framework At GP’s Annual Conference

Today at GP21: the conference for general practice, Minister for Health Andrew Little announced a new Health System Indicators framework to measure how well the health and disability system serves New Zealanders.

The indicators will replace the previous National Heath targets that were "outdated and led to perverse outcomes," and will focus on the areas that most need to improve - including Māori and Pacific health. They will be a more realistic measure of how well our health system is functioning.

The news was welcomed by the audience of more than 700 GPs that were there to hear the announcement and open their annual conference.

College President Dr Samantha Murton says, "It’s good to have indicators that will make the health sector look outside the hospital walls to see what changes can be made in the community that will make a true difference to New Zealand’s health outcomes."

Minister Little stressed these were, "indicators, not targets," and would allow for solutions to be implemented at local levels to address local health needs.

The audience also received a progress report on the new health reforms that were announced in April and an overview of how the Labour Party is committed to improving New Zealand’s health system.

"The Labour Party is the party of public health, and 20 cents in every dollar currently goes into health.

"Primary health care is essential to the success of these new reforms - it is time to shift the balance," the Minister said.

GP21: the conference for general practice runs until Sunday 8 August.

© Scoop Media