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Heather du Plessis-Allan: DHB proposals are already a disappointment

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 16 Jun 2020, 4:40PM

Heather du Plessis-Allan: DHB proposals are already a disappointment

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 16 Jun 2020, 4:40PM

If David Clark thinks Heather Simpson’s given him a so called “once in a generation opportunity” to reform the health system, he might want to think again.

These recommendations are unambitious and do very little to clear away the expensive bureaucracy caused by having 20 DHBs.

The basic gist of the recommendations delivered today is to replace those 20 DHBs with between eight and 12.

To give you a sense of how unambitious that is, compare it to the advice from American health expert Amy Downs who visited NZ courtesy of Treasury three years ago.

She spent seven months here, looked at the health system, and recommended between just four and six DHBs. That’s half what Simpson reckons we need.

Then, for whatever bureaucracy we save by halving the number of DHBs, Simpson recommends just adding another layer of bureaucracy on top.

She wants two new bodies created – one called Health NZ to instruct DHBs on what to do and then a Maori health agency dedicated to ensuring good Māori health outcomes.

Which begs the question: why can’t the ministry of health do that?

This is uninspiring stuff.  It’s headed in the right direction, but doesn’t go far enough.

I get the sense the government might’ve hoped to set up health as an election issue.  They’ve had a good run with it so far. They’ve sued the mould in the walls issue to set up the narrative that national underfunded the health system.  They’ve used budgets to pour money into cheaper doctor visits, DHBs and mental health.  And they’ve obviously got public goodwill over their health response to Covid.

So maybe promising a ‘once in a generation’ health reform might’ve seemed something smart to take to the election. But this is not big and bold and likely to excite voters. This is middle of the road, no risk, safe.

And it doesn’t help that the guy selling the idea is constantly the subject of questions about whether he should be there. David Clark’s already burnt his chips as health minister with the bike rides.  There’s already speculation he’ll be replaced by Ayesha Verrall, who isn’t even an MP yet.

And clearly even his own bosses aren’t prepared to leave the reforms to him as minister alone. Both the PM and the Minister of Finance, as if they aren’t busy enough, are overseeing the reforms.

This idea is a disappointment before it really even got started.

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