An urgent overhaul of the New Zealand health system to remedy current inequalities of care is being called for in a University of Auckland-led critique published in The Lancet.
Professor Felicity Goodyear-Smith and health economist Toni Ashton wrote the 11-page article that examines the history and current state of the health system and suggests large scale prevention-focused change could help realise the founding vision of equal, universal care for all New Zealanders.
“We have a very good health system in many ways. We provide very good care, but not everybody receives the same quality of care,” said Prof Goodyear-Smith. “That needs to change, urgently.”
With 20 District Health Boards, 320 primary health organisations and 2,200 non-governmental organisations, the health sector is a ‘fragmented, complex structure’, which contributes to inequalities in accessing healthcare and is contrary to the ideals set out in 1938 when New Zealand was a global pioneer in introducing a national health system, wrote the authors.
Other weaknesses outlined include funding failing to keep pace with rising costs, a failure to tackle underlying drivers of health inequality, the neglect of infrastructure and serious workforce health issues such as ‘burnout’.
