Health Board Nominations
MEDIA RELEASE, 17 February 2000
Health Board
Nominations
Minister of Health Annette King today urged communities to nominate people they believe will be effective on their local health boards.
Nominations for additional directors to the existing Hospital and Health Services boards are being taken now.
Advertisements calling for nominations will appear in newspapers this Saturday and there will also be advertising on iwi radio stations.
"The first elections for district health boards will not be held until October next year, but there is an opportunity now for communities to have their say through nominating people to existing boards of Hospital and Health Services.
"These boards will become district health boards when legislation is passed later this year and they will operate until the elections next year, " Mrs King said.
"Over the next two weeks anyone can nominate themselves or another person to be considered for appointment. The Ministry of Health and the Crown Company Monitoring Unit are coordinating the process and will take nominations up until March 3.
(The selection criteria that will be used to select directors is attached.)
"As the boards will operate under the Companies Act until new legislation creating district health boards is passed later this year, the additional directors will need to be able to fulfil the current role as well as aid the move to the district health boards.
"A key aim of this Government is meeting the health needs of local communities, through increasing community involvement in decision-making.
"I expect both new and existing board members to be very receptive to hearing and considering community views, and to be clear about what both the Government and the community expects of them.
"The first opportunity for communities is now. More will come. I urge communities to make the most of them to ensure they are well served by their district health boards," Mrs King said.
ENDS
The selection criteria, background information on the process of developing the district health boards follows, and how to make a nomination follows.
Guide to selection criteria for candidates for directors to Hospital and Health Service boards.
GENERIC COMPETENCIES
Candidates for board membership should have
the following competencies:
· an ability to add
value
· an ability to clearly communicate orally and in
writing
· the capability for a wide perspective on
issues
· integrity and a strong sense of ethics
·
common sense
· organisational and strategic
awareness
· an appreciation of the role of the Crown as a
shareholder
· an ability to distinguish corporate
governance from management
· financial literacy
· a
well-developed critical faculty
· the ability to be
information oriented
· a knowledge of the
responsibilities of a director.
COMPETENCIES FOR THE
TRANSITION
Collectively boards should have the following
competencies to support the functions of a transition
board:
· clear understanding of the importance of the
governance and accountability drivers needed to establish
new and robust organisational structures
· strategic
leadership (including the ability to lead culture and value
change)
· understanding of community and population
health needs assessment and planning
· understanding of
purchasing of health and disability support services
·
understanding and awareness of the application of the Treaty
of Waitangi to the health and disability sector including to
board transitional functions.
LEGAL AND TECHNICAL
REQUIREMENTS
· candidates should not have conflicts of
interest that would inhibit their ability to successfully
discharge the responsibilities of a board director
·
candidates should not have committed any criminal offences
which would bring into question the suitability of their
character for board membership.
The Development
of District Health Boards
What is the process for
establishing district health boards?
There are three
stages;
1. Hospital and Health Services boards will have
additional director appointments made to them to help
existing boards make the transition to district health
boards. They will continue operating as they have done, but
will start assessing how they need to change to develop into
district health boards. Additional directors may be
appointed to the existing 22 hospital boards to help them
during this phase. Nominees are currently being
sought.
2. These boards will develop into district health
boards with the passing into law of the New Zealand Public
Health Services bill, expected in November.
3. Elections
for the district health boards will be held to coincide with
the local body elections in October 2001.
What is
occurring now?
The Ministry of Health and Crown Company
Monitoring Advisory Unit are working with the chairs of the
Hospital and Health Services' boards to assess their
make-up.
The Minister may appoint additional directors
to the boards where the assessment finds extra skills would
be valuable in ensuring they can meet current requirements,
as well as look towards the impending change in their
role.
The Minister has called for nominations for the
additional directorships.
Anyone can make a nomination
by sending a curriculum vitae to;
CCMAU
PO Box
10465
Wellington
Ref: HHS/DHB Appointments
Or faxing it to 04 499 2107 or emailing to cv@ccmau.govt.nz
The closing date for the first
round of appointments is March 3.
The Ministry and CCMAU
will collate the nominations and help the Minister develop a
shortlist for interviews. Recommended appointments will then
be considered by the Cabinet Honours and Appointments
Committee.
The successful and unsuccessful nominees will
be informed before a public announcement is made. The
Minister expects the new directors will have assumed their
roles in May.
What will these boards do?
These
boards will exist until the Public Health Services Bill is
passed in November. Until then the boards will remain
Hospital and Health Service boards, operating under the
Companies Act.
While they are therefore required to
continue carrying out their current functions until the
legislative change, they will also need to be gearing up for
the change.
This dual focus is why some boards may
require additional directors
What will happen when
the New Zealand Public Health Services Bill becomes
law?
This signals a changed health system.
The
subsequent repeal of the Health and Disability Safety Act
will see the absorption of the Health Funding Authority and
its funding operations into the Ministry of Health.
The
Health and Hospital Services boards will then become
district health boards.
These boards will then embark on
their new role - being responsible for ensuring the
community has access to appropriate
health care
services.
The district health board is responsible for
balancing the community's needs for primary health care,
public health, disability support and hospital
services.
A key accountability of the boards will be
ensuring that one sector does not dominate at the expense of
another area of health care. Each board will have two
committees, one responsible for the governance of hospital
services and the other for advising on primary care.
The
district health boards will be required to assess the health
needs of their communities and start developing strategic
plans to meet identified needs.
These boards will
dissolve when elections for the new board are held to
coincide with local body elections in October or November
2001.
From then on board meetings will be open to the
public and the media, although the board will need to go
into committee on some agenda items that could be, for
example, commercially sensitive. Basically the meetings will
operate under the same principles as local authority
meetings.
The new district health boards
The new
district health boards will mostly comprise people elected
by the community. Elections will coincide with local body
elections.
The Minister will also appoint additional
people to the boards to ensure balance in skills and
representation within a district.
Why are these changes
being made?
The changes are not being made for change's
sake. They are part of the Government's plan to improve the
health of New Zealanders. The abolition of the Health
Funding Authority and the move to the district health boards
will increase community input into decision making and once
again make decision makers more directly accountable to the
public.
The district health board structure will support
the New Zealand Health Strategy. The strategy, being
developed by the Ministry of Health, will provide a
comprehensive framework under which health issues will be
addressed.
What is the cost of this initiative?
Costs
will be kept low. The district health boards will grow from
the existing boards and elections will coincide with those
for local
bodies.
ENDS