Govt’s new health targets: Better cancer treatment, child immunisation among targets

Health targets focusing on improving access to cancer treatment and shortening wait times in emergency departments have been announced by the prime minister.

The measures are largely in line with National’s proposed targets before the election.

Pre-election, the targets concerning specialists appointments and elective treatment only mentioned a “meaningful reduction in both areas”.

The targets would come into effect from July 1. Health New Zealand/Te Whatu Ora would report progress on the targets quarterly, meaning the first set of data would be released after the third quarter.

“We are unapologetically an outcomes-driven Government,” Health Minister Dr Shane Reti said.

During Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s speech in Whangārei today, he said he aimed to have the targets achieved within six years.

“It is important that we are ambitious in trying to achieve better health outcomes for New Zealanders.”

The targets are:

• 90 per cent of patients to receive cancer management within 31 days of the decision to treat.
• 95 per cent of children to be fully immunised at 24 months of age.
• 95 per cent of patients to be admitted, discharged or transferred from an emergency department within six hours.
• 95 per cent of patients to wait less than four months for a first specialist appointment.
• 95 per cent of patients to wait less than four months for elective treatment.

He highlighted how New Zealand’s child immunisation rates lagged behind the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada at 83 per cent.

The best coverage New Zealand had reached for children under 2 had been 93 per cent about a decade ago - signalling how difficult achieving 95 per cent would be.

Reti, also a qualified GP, acknowledged how the previous Government’s goals to shorten wait times for first specialist appointments and elective treatments had been tough to achieve and would be for his Government also.

“Covid-19 has had an influence but wait lists were rising in the years before it even arrived.”

Labour’s health spokeswoman Dr Ayesha Verrall believed the targets could be achieved much sooner than six years.

Regarding cancer treatment, Verrall said the true bottleneck in the system was tests being returned. As such, Verrall believed the cancer management target could be reached within the year.

While Health Minister in the previous Government, Verrall set a target to reach the same immunisation threshold within two years.

She also expected the Government should be able to achieve 95 per cent of patients waiting less than four months for elective treatment in two years.

Verrall expressed concern about the emergency department target, given the potential for data to be “gamed” when hospital staff logged a patient as having left the ED when they hadn’t - something which had occurred in the past.

“I think these targets are not going to deliver meaningful health outcomes for New Zealanders because they’re focused on parts of the system that are easy to measure and easy to deliver on.”

Challenged on why she didn’t achieve those targets while in Government if she considered them easy, Verrall clarified she was specifically referencing the cancer management target.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon spoke about the conclusion of his 100-day plan in Whangārei. Photo / Alex Burton

Labour leader Chris Hipkins was less than impressed with the Government’s achievements, claiming National’s election promises to lower the cost of living hadn’t been honoured in any of the 49 items in the 100-day plan.

“Instead, licencing a car is set to get $50 more expensive, ratepayers are going to have to stump up thousands across the country for water infrastructure in the longer term and it’s likely Aucklanders are going to pay more, not less, now that Auckland Council has a funding shortfall for transport projects,” he said in a statement.

“Instead of helping families with costs like early childhood education or public transport fares, we’ve seen them prioritise tax cuts for mega landlords and make life even more expensive.”

He also criticised the Government’s decision to repeal the Māori Health Authority, Fair Pay Agreements and Labour’s world-leading anti-smoking legislation - the last of which National didn’t campaign on.

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.