Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman
Minister of Health

22 August 2017

Targeted approach to health saving lives

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says that nationwide health targets have had a significant impact on ensuring better, faster and more convenient healthcare for New Zealanders.

“Under this Government, the six national health targets have helped to drive improvement in performance across the health system,” says Dr Coleman.

“Nine years on, these targets have made a real difference to the quality of care in the health system and have saved lives.

“The latest health targets released today show that almost 93 per cent of patients were admitted, discharged or transferred from an EDs around the country within six hours through the shorter stays in EDs target.

“Recent New Zealand research found that this target is saving lives, with around 700 fewer deaths than predicted in 2012 if pre-target trends continue.

“Through our Improved Access to Elective Surgery Target, we have increased elective surgeries by 40 per cent, which equates to 50,000 operations per year since 2008.

“The Increased Immunisation Target has seen 92 per cent of 8-month-olds having their primary courses of immunisation on time. Under the Labour Government, the levels of immunisation were similar to that of a third world nation at 67 per cent.

“Cancer care under Labour saw over 760 patients sent to Australia for basic cancer treatment. The latest health targets show that over 80 per cent of patients are receiving their first treatment within 62 days of a high suspicion of cancer.

“A year on from the implementation of our Raising Healthy Kids Target DHBs are close to achieving the target. The quarter 4 health targets show that 91 per cent of children who were identified as obese were offered support from healthcare professionals for nutrition, activity and lifestyle interventions.

“This target is an important part of our Childhood Obesity Plan. New Zealand is one of the few countries in the OECD to have a target and a comprehensive plan to tackle childhood obesity.

“These results are supported by the extra $888 million being invested into health services for 2017/18, which is the biggest increase in eleven years. This takes health investment to a record $16.77 billion in 2017/18, an increase of around $5 billion across our nine Budgets.

“Only this Government can both manage the economy while also maintaining a sustainable investment into our health services.”

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