Headlines and deadlines

New Zealand model to promote better care across Europe

A recent White Paper suggests that New Zealand can provide a model to improve healthcare across Europe.

The White Paper, Better Information for Better Care – New Zealand’s Approach to Efficient and Affordable Care, commissioned by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, explores how New Zealand has combined policy, system design and information technology to transform its healthcare system.

Malcolm Pollock, director of the National Institute for Health Innovation and author of the White Paper, commented: “New Zealand’s size has enabled a highly responsive approach to the development of sustainable healthcare systems. The country has pioneered advances in many areas of healthcare, ranging from medical devices and bio-pharmaceutical products to cost-saving IT solutions.”

“With a small, geographically dispersed population and remote locations, New Zealand has strong incentives to develop and implement new approaches to healthcare delivery using innovative health technology,” said Chai Chuah, National Director of the National Health Board, the New Zealand Ministry of Health.

“New Zealand is committed to improving its health system on a sustainable basis and realises that new approaches are required to increase quality cost effectively. We are currently focusing on more clinically-led innovative models of care; wider involvement of patients and consumers in designing our future health services and greater integration of investment in IT, workforce and infrastructure.”

Ministry of Health publishes report on health strategy

The Ministry of Health has published a report on the health strategy in New Zealand during the past year.

The report, Implementing the New Zealand Health Strategy 2011, details the actions taken through 2011 to progress priority areas that have been signalled to the sector.

These priority areas remain consistent with the New Zealand Health Strategy and will continue to be priority areas for the medium term. For more information visit: www.health.govt.nz

Education update: New workshop launched

The latest addition to MPS’s Essential Risk Management Workshop series, Mastering Shared Decision Making, was launched in New Zealand in August.

The workshop shows how patient dissatisfaction with the decision-making process about their treatment can increase the risk of complaints against a doctor. It explains how doctors can help patients make more informed and appropriate decisions about their treatment, which will increase a patient’s sense of ownership of the decision. This will make them better able to accept unexpected or unwanted consequences after an adverse outcome.

It demonstrates how the shared decision-making model is an effective way to ensure that patients make appropriate and informed choices about the treatment options available to them.

The workshop also explores the specific skills equired by doctors and provides techniques that can be used in practice. Mastering Shared Decision Making and the other workshops in the series are being held in locations across the country until the end of November. For more information visit www.mps.org.nz.