The Government has committed to five health targets, including faster cancer treatment, improved immunisation rates, shorter stays in emergency departments, and shorter wait times for first specialist assessments and elective treatment.
The announcement comes off the back of the conclusion of the Government's 100 day plan today.
Making the announcement in Whangārei, Reti said the targets represented a "vigorous new direction in health from a Government determined to deliver for all New Zealanders".
The targets are, according to the Government:
- Faster cancer treatment - 90% of patients to receive cancer management within 31 days of the decision to treat.
- Improved immunisation for kids - 95% of children to be fully immunised at 24 months of age.
- Shorter stays in emergency departments - 95% of patients to be admitted, discharged or transferred from an emergency department within six hours.
- Shorter wait times for first specialist assessment – 95% of patients to wait less than four months for an first specialist appointment.
- Shorter wait times for treatment – 95% of patients to wait less than four months for elective treatment.
A statement from Reti's office did not elaborate on how the targets would be met.
Reti said it was important the Government was ambitious, with the targets aimed at better health outcomes.
"The health system went backwards under the previous government and its failure to drive targets.
"Having effective targets, and reporting on them publicly, helps identify where there are problems – and how we can take action to improve them."
Reti - a former GP who has been criticised for being part of a Government that is rolling back some of Labour's Smokefree initiatives - said cancer touched thousands of Kiwi families every year.
“Though our Government has already made a number of advancements including steps to raise the breast screening age, providing increased access to PET-CT scanning and more cancer drugs, we know there’s still a long way to go.
“In childhood immunisation, New Zealand sits at a disappointing 83%, well behind countries like the UK, Australia and Canada."
He said New Zealand's best result was 93% a decade ago.
"We need to do much better for our children."
He said shorter stays in emergency departments were a snapshot of how the whole health system was coping, as the "interface" between community and hospital care.
"We will be working hard on keeping people out of the emergency departments and avoiding bed block when they need to be admitted to hospital."
He acknowledged achieving shorter wait times for first specialist assessments and elective treatments was "tough for the previous government".
"And [it] will be tough for us too."
He said it currently sat at about 66% of people seen within four months, with the target level last achieved six years ago.
“Electives – things like important hip and knee surgeries - are another sad story. Covid-19 has had an influence but wait lists were rising in the years before it even arrived."
Reti said the health workforce would be important in achieving the targets, and building that remained a Government priority.
“For these targets, Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora will report progress regularly. HNZ will be directed to publish transparent results on each of the five targets every quarter. The targets come into effect on 1 July 2024, so the first quarterly results will be for July-September 2024.
“We are unapologetically an outcomes-driven Government. In health, that means setting targets which will deliver better results for all New Zealanders.”
'Half-baked' targets - Labour responds
Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said the Government had left the health system as an "afterthought", saying the targets were "half-baked" at the last minute of the Government's 100 day plan.
She said Reti had "ignored the general practice and primary care - the part of the health system which Kiwis use the most".
"He has also described the primary care system as broken, but he has no target to see it improve.
“Doctors’ fees remain high, GP enrolments remain untenable, and prescription fees are returning. Those who need healthcare most desperately, and those with complex needs will not get the care they need."
She said emergency department and wait list targets had all been "gamed" in the past.
"The previous National Government booted people off wait lists to meet their targets, and we need to see a commitment to transparency so this does not happen again."
She said the Government's cancer treatment target didn't address long wait times patients faced for procedures before treatment decisions were made, but set an "easy to achieve target once these are done".
"Patients will remain bottle necked early on their cancer journey when they’re trying to get biopsies and scans."
She said the coalition Government's health priorities were "all wrong" and the targets "ineffective".
“We will be holding them to account on their progress, and demanding measures to ensure we get the truth about whether or not these targets are met – and when."
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