It has been another big week for Health Minister Simeon Brown as he outlined his plan to deliver a better health system for New Zealanders. 

At the announcement on Friday, Brown outlined his 5 key health priorities, a shift back to local decision making by July this year - and that NZ Health would return to board governance. What was most interesting was that the Minister already has the cash and plans lined up to achieve the 5 priorities.  

Take note, Ministers. This is how to give an impression of action, even if what you’ve claimed as your own has likely been conceived and developed by your predecessor.  

Compared to Shane Reti’s quite specific list of 5 key priorities released at the same time last year, Brown has pitched a little broader, but is largely focused on same outcomes. Brown is going for a mix of quick and long term fixes.  

Kiwis waiting for elective surgery will be thrilled to hear the Government is investing $50 million between now and the end of June to reduce the backlog - that’s an additional 10,579 procedures and a nice way to shift the stats on one of his priorities.  

But this is ‘ambulance at the bottom of the hill’ stuff. And it’s just a short-term sugar hit if they can’t then keep up with future elective surgery demand and wait times. Hence, Brown is now looking to shore up better contracts with private operators to take the load off the public sector in an ongoing capacity.   

One obvious issue with this is that the private sector isn’t evenly spread across the country - post code lottery health care, anyone? This approach also relies on the private sector having the capacity to take on more public elective surgery.  

Is this another step towards privatising our health care system? Hopefully not. But if it means getting the surgery you have been waiting for, in pain, for a long time, I’m not sure voters will care who is delivering the service as long as it’s prompt and free.

Brown's other priorities include making sure Kiwis have timely access to a doctor, reducing ED wait times, and investing in health infrastructure, digital and physical. Earlier in the week, Brown announced an increase in placements and incentives for overseas doctors and nurses to work in primary care, a 24/7 digital service for New Zealanders to access online medical appointments, and a $285 million uplift for general practice over 3 years 

General Practitioners Aotearoa welcomes the funding and attention on general practice, but says more information is needed to about how the money will be spent and distributed. 

As always, the devil is in the details. Will the $289 million land on the front line, or will it be used to recruit and train these overseas doctors, pay the $30 million for the nurse recruitment initiative, and run the digital service? If so, then how much does that help GP’s take on new patients and achieve the Government's targets?

As for digital healthcare - there are already services on the market - not sure if the Government needs to invest in its own.  

Only time will tell if the Health Minister is on the right path - but after only minor improvements against targets last year, new minister Brown needs to be seen to take a bigger swing this year, even if he’s borrowing someone else’s homework.

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