Opinion: If the health system isn't working, what comes next?

Most people can agree on one thing.

Our health system isn't where it needs to be.

Patients are waiting too long for care. Health workers are exhausted. In recent months we've seen patients die after prolonged waits for emergency care, and we've seen people decide the safest place to be was anywhere other than an overcrowded emergency department. Stories like these should be the exception, not the rule. Yet they're becoming far too familiar.

The harder question is what we do next.

A new opinion paper by Phil Bagshaw, John D Potter, John Goddard, Fiona McDonald, Sue Bagshaw, Matt Roskruge and Ganesh Ahiro, published by NZ Doctor, takes a crack at answering that question. It sets out a vision for redesigning New Zealand's health, disability and welfare services around communities rather than bureaucracy, prevention rather than crisis, and collaboration rather than competition.

It's an ambitious paper. Some readers will agree with every word, others won’t, and that’s ok.

We don't believe one organisation has all the answers. But we do believe New Zealand needs an honest conversation about the future of healthcare, backed by evidence and informed by the experiences of patients, whānau and the people working in the system every day.

For us, the evidence is already clear. The stories we've highlighted over recent months, together with the experiences shared by patients and clinicians across the country, point to the same conclusion: continuing down the current path isn't good enough.

That's why we're calling for:

• Funding public health properly – so everyone gets care when they need it.

• Honouring Te Tiriti – ensuring Māori lead on equity in the health system.

• Keeping healthcare public – so care stays for people, not profit.

Whether or not you agree with every proposal in this paper, we think it's worth reading. Healthcare in Aotearoa won't improve by accident. It will improve because we're prepared to look honestly at what's happening now and have a serious conversation about what comes next.

Click here for a PDF copy of the proposal or if you have a subscription to NZ Doctor, read the full article here.