 Ministry of Health
NZ Government
©Copyright
Published:
23/11/2011
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Proposed changes to Primary Care
In late 2009 the Ministry of Health called for
expressions of interest to
deliver ‘Better, Sooner, More
Convenient Primary Care’. Three
groups across the Auckland
region have been established to
do so – Alliance Health+, the
Greater Auckland Integrated
Health Network (GAIHN) and the
National Hauora Coalition. More
information can be found here.
What are Primary Health
Organisations?
Primary Health Organisations
(PHOs) are the local structures
for delivering and co-ordinating
primary health care services.
PHOs bring together doctors,
nurses and other health
professionals (such as Maori
health workers, health promotion
workers, dieticians,
pharmacists, physiotherapists,
psychologists and midwives) in
the community to serve the needs
of their enrolled populations.
PHOs can vary widely in size,
structure, philosophy and are
not-for-profit. The Minister of
Health released a set of minimum
requirements that guided the
establishment of PHOs, and set
out standards that PHOs must
meet. This includes a
requirement that PHOs will give
communities, iwi and enrolled
people the opportunity to have
their say about the services
PHOs provide.
The first PHOs were established in July 2002 and as of
August 2011 there were four PHOs
operating in the Auckland DHB
area.
What are the benefits of
belonging to a PHO?
People will be part of local
primary health care services
that improve their health, keep
them well, are easy to get to
and co-ordinate their ongoing
care.
Primary health care services
will focus on better health for
a population, and actively work
to reduce health inequalities
between different groups.
People can expect more
affordable primary health care
services. For example; lower
costs of doctors visits and
pharmaceutical charges.
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