New Zealand injects one-off US$1m for urgent procedures:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
A one-off payment of NZ$1.7m (US$1.1m) will reportedly be provided to New Zealand's largest primary health organisation (PHO) this year to tackle urgent surgical cases. The patients to benefit from the funds being granted from Canterbury district health board to Partnership Health Canterbury were recently removed from waiting lists in attempts to tackle the lengthy waiting list system, according to Scoop Independent News. The organisation's CEO, Carolyn Gullery, said that the challenge is now to ensure that the most urgent cases are prioritised. A board member for Partnership Health Canterbury, Dr Paul McCormack, emphasised the long-term needs: "We need to find a way to make the reality of limited health funding work more effectively for the people of Canterbury," he told the publication.