The New Zealand Health Strategy sets out how New Zealand’s health system can improve people’s access to and experiences of health services. People will benefit individually, through better accessibility, quality and efficiency of care; and collectively, as we all benefit from having a healthier population.
The New Zealand Health Strategy will help achieve a shift in thinking, so that health is viewed as an outcome, and an enabler of wellbeing.
The New Zealand Health Strategy’s vision of pae ora is underpinned by two long-term goals. These are:
- to achieve health equity for our diverse communities, and especially for Māori, Pacific, disabled and other groups who currently have poorer outcomes
- to improve health outcomes for all New Zealanders.
Succeeding in these goals will require long-term actions across multiple generations and partners.
The goals recognise the need for collective and coordinated actions to address health inequities, poor health outcomes and the underlying causes of both.
Lasting transformation requires a shift in how we think about health and what we value.
- Voice at the heart of the system: Giving people, whānau and communities greater control and influence over decisions about their health and the design of services, and embedding their voices in how the system plans, delivers and reports on care.
- Flexible, appropriate care: Developing services that adapt to people’s health needs and expectations, that are focused on preventing ill health and delivered closer to our homes and communities, supporting access for all.
- Valuing our workforce: Recognising our health workforce as our most valuable asset and supporting the development of the sustainable, diverse, skilled and confident workers of the future.
- A learning culture: Creating a culture of continuous learning and quality improvement, supported by research, evaluation and innovation.
- A resilient and sustainable system: Ensuring preparedness for future shocks and the best use of resources to manage demand and affordability over the long-term.
- Partnerships for health and wellbeing: Building cross-sector and cross-government relationships to drive collaborative action on health and wellbeing and the factors that determine health outcomes.
