New Zealanders' health services comparable internationally

Health Minister Bill English said today that an international survey showed that New Zealanders were getting a generally similar level of health services as people in other developed countries.

"However, New Zealanders are more worried than people overseas about accessing care. I am concerned about this level of anxiety because a good health service needs to provide people with a sense of security. My job is to build confidence in our health services".

"I haven't set out to achieve this with a slick P.R. campaign".

"Instead I have set out to get health services working better. The New Zealand health survey, released recently, showed that 90% people were either satisfied or very satisfied with the health care they had received in the past month. I have also been keen to work with health professionals and communities to ensure they can be confident that they have the opportunity to make the improvements in services that make sense to them".

"Just last week we had a very successful conference of 200 health people from all around New Zealand sharing ideas on how to get better services. Health agencies have been keen to deal honestly with the issues around access to services".

"This week a document which outlines what services are covered "What Can I Expect " was released by the Health Funding Authority. The Hospital Services Plan and Rural Health Policy have recently been published and we are continuing to implement the Booking System".

"This all contributes to providing New Zealanders with good information about what they can expect from public health services".

"The political debate about health has been so intensive for so long that it will take more time to achieve higher levels of public confidence. "The New Zealand public want to support their health service. It is my job to give them that confidence", he said.