The 20 district health boards which run services for individual areas around the country will be replaced by one new body, Health NZ, which will instead plan services for the whole population.
Health NZ will have four regional divisions but also district offices. It will delegate authority to local levels so regional services have a say in what they need and how they work.
There will also be a new Māori Health Authority, sitting alongside that, to both set policies for Māori health and to decide and fund those who will deliver services. The new Māori Health Authority will have the power to directly commission health services for Māori.
In 2018, the Government commissioned the Health and Disability System Review to identify how we could reform our health system to deliver on that promise.
This paper summarises the Government’s initial response to that Review, and explains how we plan to strengthen our health system to ensure every New Zealander can access the right care at the right time.
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