The Government’s new health targets focus on improving access to cancer treatment and shortening wait times in emergency departments and for specialist appointments. 

They 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. 

They are largely in line with National’s proposed targets ahead of the election. Then, the targets concerning specialists appointments and elective treatment only mentioned a “meaningful reduction in both areas”. 

The Government had also decided to increase the proportion of people to receive timely cancer treatment from 85 per cent before the election to 90 per cent under the new target. 

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. 

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

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. 

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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.” 

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is set to speak to the targets later today during a press conference. 

It comes as Labour claims the Government has forgotten its promises to address the high cost of living as it looks set to announce the completion of its 100-day plan. 

Luxon is in Whangārei today where he will be announcing the final plan item - revealing five new targets in health. 

Luxon teased those targets on Newstalk ZB this morning, saying they would aim to improve immunisation rates for children under 2 years old and address wait times for cancer treatments or specialist appointments. 

They would form part of Luxon’s “better public service targets”, which would also encompass school attendance, academic achievement at high school, court processing times and levels of violent crime and youth offending. 

It was expected Luxon would celebrate the conclusion of his 100-day plan during a press conference this afternoon. 

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 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.” 

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will speak about the conclusion of his 100-day plan later today. Photo / Alex Burton 

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. 

‘War against the poor’ 

First Union general secretary Dennis Maga said, after 100 days in power, the Government has made workers significantly worse off and punished the poorest. 

“It has been a hundred steps backward for any worker in Aotearoa so far and it’s only getting worse. 

“It seems like people haven’t fully grasped the extent of this government’s intentions just yet,” said Maga. 

Maga said policies like the reintroduction of 90-day trial periods at work, the repeal of Fair Pay Agreements, the upcoming real-terms cut to the minimum wage, and the repeal of the Reserve Bank’s dual mandate beyond inflation will have “increasingly disastrous economic” effects over time. 

“The only real beneficiaries under this government so far have been their ‘investors’ - the landlords and billionaires, tobacconists and payday lenders, and the American-style ‘culture warriors’ who encouraged them to fight a war on the poor in New Zealand. 

“We should all feel rightfully disgusted at the invented austerity of taking away a child’s free school lunches while incentivising their parents’ landlord to up the rent or buy another house to flip,” Maga said. 

Health targets 

During their election campaign, National’s five major targets for health were focused on emergency departments, cancer treatment, immunisation and wait times for specialists and surgery. 

• Shorter stays in the emergency department – 95 per cent of patients to be admitted, discharged or transferred from an emergency department within six hours. 
• Faster cancer treatment – 85 per cent of patients to receive cancer management within 31 days of the decision to treat. 
• Improved immunisation – 95 per cent of 2-year-olds receiving their full age-appropriate immunisations. 
• Shorter wait times for first specialist assessment – a meaningful reduction in the number of people waiting more than four months to see a specialist (target to be set in government). 
• Shorter wait times for surgery – a meaningful reduction in the number of people waiting more than four months for surgery (target to be set in government). 

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.