| Taking care of the health system Steve Thomas | 1 December 2009 |
This article was printed in the Northland Age on 1 December 2009
Northland can see how well its District Health Board (DHB) is doing compared with others in the country, after the Government and the Ministry of Health last week released their quarterly health targets report. While the results show the Northland DHB is doing okay, there is still some room for improvement. The publication of DHB performance indicators sheds light more broadly on the quality of healthcare throughout New Zealand and the value that is coming from taxpayer dollars. The report shows that New Zealand needs to be realistic about the future of our healthcare system, and needs to make tough choices about how we spend our health dollars.
Various organisations and groups have already been making this point throughout the year. In its biannual review of New Zealand's government and economy, the OECD noted that the regional DHB structure we use is fragmented and some centralisation is needed. A Ministerial Review Group reached similar conclusions in August, concluding that DHBs could be managed much better than they currently are and that money must be spent more effectively.
Just last month, the New Zealand Treasury also indicated that if health spending increases at the five percent per year rate it has historically tended to, the proportion of health spending as a share of GDP would increase from seven percent ($12.4 billion) today as much as ten percent by 2050. It strongly recommended health spending should be curbed to help reduce overall public spending. Without change, health spending—and public spending in general—will reach levels that are simply unaffordable.
If the growing consensus is correct, our generation will have to make some big decisions within the next decade so that those who need it can access quality healthcare in the public system. There is no longer room for palliative solutions. This means thinking more carefully about what we spend on preventative care and, for those of us who can afford it, paying for more of our own healthcare. This will mean we have to give up some aspects of the current public health system—but if we do not make some changes now, New Zealanders could miss out on a high quality public health system in the future.
