3 Jul 2023

Te Whatu Ora turns one: what's changed?

From Nine To Noon, 9:05 am on 3 July 2023
Auckland City Hospital

Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi

It's one year since the establishment of Te Whatu Ora and Te Aka Whai Ora.

It was the biggest overhaul of our health system in decades, bringing together 20 District Health Boards around  the country and establishing, for the first time, an independent authority tasked with managing Māori health policies, services, and outcomes.

The overall aim: to reduce inequity, while eliminating duplication, waste, and bureaucracy.

But critics say chronic staff shortages persist, IT systems still don't talk to each other, staff still don't even have a common email address and tens of thousands of patents are still waiting months for surgery.

A plan to disestablish 1600 mostly non-clinical roles has been delayed.

One year on - is anything better?

Kathryn speaks with Professor Robin Gauld Co-Director of the Centre for Health Systems and Technology at Otago University's Dunedin School of Medicine and Otago Business School, who has been studying health systems here and around the world for years.