The chief medical officer for Te Whatu Ora Counties Manukau, Andrew Connolly, has welcomed Health Minister Shane Reti’s decision to appoint a commissioner to oversee the organisation running the country’s 20 hospitals.
He says many senior managers had become concerned about the time it was taking to make decisions within the massive system.
The commissioner, Lester Levy, has indicated more decisions will be made at regional and district level.
“For me, just being able to go straight to our regional lead, whoever that will be, cuts out several layers of bureaucracy and I think we can just make smarter and faster and therefore better decisions for our communities,” Dr Connolly says.
Giving regional leads responsibility also for primary health should mean hospitals can work more closely with partners in the community to get on top of problems.
