Monday, 1 March 2021, 7:31 am
There is a compelling case for reforming the way New
Zealand’s district health boards (DHBs) are funded
starting with two relatively low cost technical measures.
DHBs are important because they are responsible for both
community and hospital healthcare – both their planning
and funding. Consequently around three-quarters of
government health spending goes to DHBs.
While the
Heather Simpson review of the health and disability system
touched on funding it was not a feature of its final report.
Providing that it doesn’t fall down the Simpson trapdoor
of massively overhauling health system structures thereby
distracting its focus from what really matters, the