Health NZ's national director of the new National Public Health Service is a Northlander

Dr Nick Chamberlain has been appointed Health New Zealand's national director of the new National Public Health Service. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Northland's health boss Dr Nick Chamberlain has landed a prominent role in the new health entity.

The Northland District Health Board chief executive has been appointed Health NZ's national director of the new National Public Health Service. He will manage about 1500 staff throughout the country.

Chamberlain is the latest to be snapped up by Health New Zealand following the appointment of Dr Mataroria Lyndon to the Māori Health Authority board.

He is the first permanent appointment to the senior leadership team at Health NZ.

Dr Chamberlain will bring together 12 existing public health units, Te Hiringa Hauora (the Health Promotion Agency), and several former Ministry of Health functions – including screening, immunisation, and Covid-19 response services – into one national team.

He takes up the new role on July 1, when all district health boards become Health NZ and the Māori Health Authority.

Chamberlain said such a high-ranking appointment, where he will report to Health NZ's chief executive, bode well for Northland in general.

Having had years of experience in leadership around primary and public health care, he's especially passionate when it comes to policies and improvements to health and lifestyle of all Kiwis.

"The focus is to prevent rather than having to respond to the health crisis. Obviously, Covid has been a big issue over the last two and a half years but underneath that, there's a huge amount of other things.

"The goal is to improve access to public and population health," Chamberlain said.

"I'm fully committed to a service which ensures that Aotearoa New Zealand is always ready to respond to any threats to public health in a co-ordinated, proactive, equitable and innovative way."

Interim Health New Zealand chief executive Fepulea'i Margie Apa said being uniquely qualified with a broad range of experience across the health sector made Chamberlain an outstanding fit for the role.

"He brings outstanding experience in clinical governance and patient safety, improving the patient journey, chronic care management, and preventing avoidable hospitalisation.

"Dr Chamberlain was a General Practitioner by training and practice and will bring professional experience of how primary care and public health can integrate to improve population health and wellbeing," Apa said.

"I know his appointment as leader of our new National Public Health Service will positively impact the lives of New Zealanders, particularly around longstanding inequity in many of our health outcomes."

Tracey Schiebli replaces Dr Chamberlain as the new interim district director for Tai Tokerau from July 1. Schiebli's role is initially for three months and possibly for six months.