High Number of Health Board Nominations
Health Minister Annette King says she is delighted with the number of nominations for extra appointments to the boards of existing Hospital and Health Services.
About 1800 applications involving about 1425 people were received, representing a good geographical spread. Some people were nominated for more than one board. There were 728 nominations from men and 697 from women. The numbers could alter slightly.
"I am delighted with the response which shows people want the community more involved in health decision making," Mrs King said.
"From the numbers of nominations received I am confident we have a wide range of top class candidates with extensive experience and excellent skill bases to choose from.
"The nominations are currently being analysed to determine how many are from Maori and Pacific people and I should have that breakdown within the next few days.
"A shortlist is being compiled and interviews will be held. The new directors are expected to have assumed their roles on the Hospital and Health Service boards in May," Mrs King said.
ENDS
A geographical breakdown and more information on the process is attached.
For further information ring John Harvey, 04 471 9305
Breakdown of Nominations Received for Each Hospital and Health Service board.
Northland Health;
85
Auckland Healthcare; 164
Waitemata
Health; 151
South Auckland Health; 158
Health
Waikato; 132
Pacific Health; 80
Lakeland
Health; 52
Tairawhiti Healthcare; 50
Taranaki
Healthcare; 49
Healthcare Hawke's Bay; 82
MidCentral
Health; 58
Good Health Wanganui; 32
Capital Coast
Health; 161
Hutt Valley Health; 64
Wairarapa
Health; 38
Nelson-Marlborough Health; 61
Coast
Healthcare; 14
Canterbury Health; 140
Healthlink
South 104
Health South Canterbury; 30
Healthcare
Otago; 82
Southern Health; 55
Where to from
here?
The Crown Company Monitoring Advisory Unit and the
Ministry of Health are analysing the nominations and
interviews of shortlisted candidates will take place.
This shortlist will take into account the analysis the government agencies carried out of the skills and competencies of existing Hospital and Health Services boards. The purpose of this analysis was to highlight any areas in which they could benefit from the appointment of an additional director/s with specific skills.
The recommended appointees will be
considered by the Cabinet Honours and Appointments Committee
before successful nominations are announced.
The new
directors will probably have assumed their roles in
May.
The future of the Hospital and Health Services
boards?
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.
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 Hospital and Health
Services boards will become district health boards at about
the same time.
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. It is intended that each board will have at least two committees, one responsible for the governance of hospital services and another 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 following elections for
the new board, planned to be 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?
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, as well as the Government.
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.