Crown entities and agencies
In addition to district health boards (DHBs), the Crown Entities Act 2004 lists a number of other health Crown entities which are also responsible to the Minister of Health.
Crown entities form part of New Zealand’s state sector, and are classed as either Crown agents, autonomous Crown entities or independent Crown entities.
Health Quality and Safety Commission
The Health Quality and Safety Commission (HQSC) is a Crown agent with the objectives of leading and coordinating work across the health and disability sector for the purposes of monitoring and improving the quality and safety of health and disability support services.
The functions of HQSC include provision of advice to the Minister of Health on how quality and safety in health and disability support services may be improved, and matters relating to mortality, including appointing and supporting mortality review committees (after 23 April 2011). It is also responsible for determining and reporting quality and safety indicators (such as serious and sentinel events) for health and disability support services.
Health Benefits Limited
Health Benefits Limited (HBL) is a national shared services organisation formed to reduce costs and deliver savings through the effective and efficient delivery of administrative, support and procurement services for district health boards.
This includes services such as financial management and information systems, procurement and supply chain, human resource and shared payroll, information technology and facilities management. Savings made from these activities will be reinvested into frontline health services and in many cases this will mean services can be maintained in the face of increasing costs and tight fiscal conditions.
While not a Crown entity under the Crown Entities Act, HBL is a Crown-owned company. It is owned in equal shares by the Minister of Health and the Minister of Finance.
Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand
The Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand (known as ALAC) is an autonomous Crown entity with the primary objectives of encouraging and promoting moderation in the use of alcohol, the reduction and discouragement of the misuse of alcohol, and the minimisation of the personal, social and economic harm resulting from the misuse of alcohol.
Crown Health Financing Agency
The Crown Health Financing Agency’s (CHFA) objective is to assist district health boards to achieve and maintain financial sustainability through the provision of a range of financial services and expert advice. These services include approval and provision of long term Crown debt, and subsequent monitoring of DHBs’ financial performance. It has a property service for DHBs to use if they wish to sell property which is surplus to requirements. The CHFA is also responsible for managing historical legal claims against the former area health boards.
Health and Disability Commissioner
The main role of the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC), an independent Crown entity, is to ensure that the rights of consumers are upheld, and health or disability service providers learn to improve their performance. This includes making sure that consumer complaints are taken care of fairly and efficiently. The HDC also provides funding for a national advocacy service to help consumers with complaints.
Health Research Council of New Zealand
The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) is the Crown agent responsible for the allocation of the government’s investment in public-good health research. The HRC funds health research in four broad areas.
- Health and wellbeing in New Zealand – keeping New Zealanders healthy and independent throughout life.
- Improving outcomes for acute and chronic conditions – better recovery for people suffering an illness or injury.
- New Zealand health delivery – improving service delivery.
- Rangahau Hauora Maori – supporting Maori health research.
Health Sponsorship Council
The Health Sponsorship Council (HSC) is a Crown agent that promotes health and healthy lifestyles by developing and delivering health promotion and marketing programmes. The HSC delivers four main programmes aimed at decreasing smoking, avoiding sun burn, decreasing problem gambling and increasing healthy activity and eating.
Mental Health Commission
The Mental Health Commission is an autonomous Crown entity tasked with providing the government with independent advice on how well mental health and addiction services are meeting the needs of people. It also advocates for improvements in the way mental illness and addiction are perceived and responded to.
New Zealand Blood Service
The New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) is the Crown agent that ensures the supply of safe blood products. NZBS takes responsibility for the development of an integrated national blood transfusion process, from the collection of blood from volunteer donors to provision of blood products within the hospital environment.
PHARMAC
PHARMAC is a Crown agent that manages the pharmaceutical budget on behalf of DHBs and decides which medicines are funded by the government. To do this, PHARMAC decides which medicines offer the best health results and value for money within the funding available. It also has a function to promote the responsible use of medicines.
PHARMAC’s Pharmacology and Therapeutics Advisory Committee (PTAC) provides PHARMAC with independent and expert advice on medicines and their benefits.
In this section
- In May 2011, the Government signalled an intention to review a number of Crown entities as part of a programme of state sector reform. Read more
Related areas
Related websites
Page last updated: 12 December 2011
Twitter
Facebook