Photo: 123rf
This year has seen the beginning of a complete overhaul of the health system, from our hospitals to primary care, and everything in between. Rob Campbell is the chair of Te Whatu Ora / Health New Zealand which was established in July, along with the Maori Health Authority. He is tasked with bringing 20 DHBs together, including 80,000 staff and more than 200,000 staff in funded agencies, with a focus on reducing inequity, while eliminating duplication, waste, and bureaucracy. But the challenges are myriad: chronic staff shortages, burn out, IT systems that don't talk to each other, GPS and primary health care professionals who say the funding system is broken and tens of thousands of patients waiting months for surgery. What has been achieved so far, what is the road ahead and when will we see change?
