Health Programmes Gearing Up
Health Minister Annette King says a wide range of improvements to health services will be maintained this year throughout the period of structural changes to the health sector.
Announcing the new funding agreement with the Health Funding Authority, Mrs King said: "The first reading of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Bill last week marked the formal start of the creation of a genuine public health service. But this Government's aim is not to change for change's sake, but to deliver better health for New Zealanders. That aim will not be put on hold.
"The exciting projects in the new funding agreement will establish a momentum that will be maintained when the structural changes are completed."
Mrs King said the agreement, specifying targets the HFA will meet in funding health services, covers the period until the end of this year when the HFA is fully integrated into the Ministry of Health. "The agreement sets an excellent platform for the Ministry by establishing clear goals and programmes. That work will be well under way by the time the Ministry takes over."
Mrs King said the agreement reflected Government health priorities. "Some of the programmes are far-reaching, but I must emphasise there is no big bang approach. We have to recognise achievable goals to solve a host of difficult problems, and set out to achieve them realistically and sensibly."
Highlights of the agreement
included:
A mental health child and youth work
plan.
By the end of November 100 percent of
first specialist assessments for elective surgery to be
completed within six months of receipt of
referral.
Implementation of HFA's Child Health
Plan.
Improved services for people with
autism.
Expanded health initiatives in South
Auckland, Porirua and Kapiti Coast.
Funding for
eight Maori health gain priority areas and for Pacific
providers.
Stocktake of rural health
services.
Copies of the Funding Agreement are available from the HFA's website, www.hfa.govt.nz Summary of highlights attached.
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 under way.
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.
.