Our role and priorities
Learn about our role in the New Zealand health system.
Our role
Our role is to deliver quality, compassionate and affordable healthcare for everyone in New Zealand.
We lead the day-to-day planning and delivery of publicly funded hospital, primary and community health services. We:
- design, arrange and deliver health services to achieve pae ora (healthy futures) for everyone in New Zealand
- encourage, support and maintain community participation in health improvement and service planning
- promote health and prevent, reduce and delay ill-health, and collaborate with other agencies, organisations, and people to address the factors that influence health
- achieve the best possible health outcomes for all
- ensure that planning and service delivery responds to people’s aspirations and needs.
The services we fund and deliver include:
- public health services
- primary and community care services
- hospital and specialist services
- mental health and addiction services
- Hauora Māori health services.
We are only one part of the New Zealand health system. Learn about the whole health system and how the different organisations work together on the Ministry of Health website.
New Zealand's health system — Ministry of Healthexternal link
Our strategic priorities
Our strategic priorities, described in our Statement of Intent, are to:
- deliver on the New Zealand Health Plan | Te Pae Waenga
- empower and enable leadership at all levels.
New Zealand Health Plan | Te Pae Waenga — Health NZexternal link
Deliver on the New Zealand Health Plan
We will achieve timely access to quality healthcare by delivering
- national health targets that ensure timely access to hospital services, primary and community care, and mental health and addictions services
- action to address risk factors of poor health
- improvement in prevention and management of 5 long term conditions that contribute to ill-health and reduced quality of life.
Mental health and addiction targets
We will strengthen our organisation to enable us to better deliver and fund healthcare services. We will focus on development of our workforce and our infrastructure — both digital and physical.
Health Digital Investment Plan — Health NZexternal link
We will improve equity of outcomes, and meet the needs of everyone in New Zealand.
We acknowledge that population groups have different health needs, and these differing needs are well documented in our Health Status Report.
Health Status Report — Health NZexternal link
Evidence-based approaches to addressing health needs should be considered in all our work, as well as in actions that are part of specific strategies.
Our actions may include work programmes at multiple levels, for example, individual, or community. We may target resources based on evidence of health need, particularly for Māori, Pacific and disabled people.
Empower and enable leadership at all levels
- We are committed to empowering regions, bringing decision-making closer to communities, and enabling leadership at all levels.
- We will strengthen leadership and culture within Health NZ, and prioritise clinical leadership, quality improvement and innovation.
Health Delivery Plan
Our Health Delivery Plan describes how we will deliver on our priorities.
Our regions and districts
We are devolving decision-making to local districts and regions to ensure a nationally planned and locally delivered health system.
Our values
Our 4 values and principles are taken from Te Mauri o Rongo | The New Zealand Health Charter.
Te Mauri o Rongo | The New Zealand Health Charterexternal link
Wairuatanga
We work with heart.
Rangatiratanga
We support our people to lead at all levels.
Whanaungatanga
We are a team of teams working together for a common purpose.
Te Korowai Āhuru
We cloak our people to provide them with safety and comfort.
Sustainability and resilience
We are working to achieve environmental sustainability and climate resilience across our facilities and services.
Our history
On 1 July 2022, Health NZ was established under the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022. It replaced 20 District Health Boards (DHBs), 8 health agencies, and absorbed some functions from the Ministry of Health.
This change was to strengthen better health outcomes for everyone in New Zealand by ensuring people have access to the right healthcare at the right time no matter where they live.