Dr Cam Calder and Kanwal Bakshi, National MPs based in Manurewa and Manukau, welcome the release of the latest National Health Targets that show continued improvements to Counties-Manukau’s frontline health services. “Locally, Counties-Manukau DHB both improved performance in several areas and exceeded targets in others, a great outcome overall,” Dr Calder and Mr Bakshi said. “Counties-Manukau DHB has continued to exceed target rates for improved access to elective surgeries, with 1,092 patients discharged in the third quarter. Our own DHB has immunised 86% of our eight-month old children, an increase of 1.4% from last quarter and 1% above the national target for this quarter. All our district health boards have made good progress since National streamlined national health targets four years ago to improve health services for patients.
“Across New Zealand, people are getting more help to quit smoking, shorter stays in emergency departments, and more operations, faster,” Dr Calder and Mr Bakshi said. This year’s budget is boosting funding for diabetes and heart disease by $35.5m over four years. This includes $15.9m funding to further increase the number of people getting diabetes and heart disease checks, one of our national health targets.
National is staying committed delivering better public services, one of its four priorities for this term, and health services are among the most important to New Zealand families. These latest results show that we are making real improvements for patients and their families, providing New Zealand families with better experiences in health care as we continue to improve access to health services. Information about the national health targets is available on the Ministry of Health website: www.health.govt.nz/healthtargets
