Government wants to reduce 'outdated and bureaucratic red tape'
The New Zealand government is reviewing reforms to modernise regulation in the health workforce in a bid to attract and retain talent for the industry.
It published on Friday the submissions it received on its discussion document, titled Putting Patients First: Modernising Health Workforce Regulation.
"The Government is reviewing how we can modernise health workforce regulation to better support patients and providers," it said on its website.
"The focus is on how changes to regulation can improve efficiency while maintaining safety and public confidence."
The reforms come as "outdated and bureaucratic red tape" holds back New Zealand's health workforce and extends waiting times for patients, according to Health Minister Simeon Brown.
"Regulatory decisions directly affect how many doctors, nurses, and other health professionals are available to patients," Brown said in a statement.
The reforms include streamlining regulation, recognising overseas qualifications more quickly, and making regulators more accountable to get more health professionals into the workforce sooner and improve access to care.
"Right now, patients and the Government have almost no way to ensure 18 different regulators are working in the same direction. These changes give patients a voice and let us set clear expectations across the system, so regulators focus on improving access to care."
Aligning with Australia's healthcare system
According to the minister, the changes will align New Zealand with Australia, where health ministers can direct regulators to ensure workforce needs are considered.
The reforms will also give ministers the tools to streamline registration so professionals can start work more quickly.
"The responsibility for setting clinical standards and scopes of practice will always be with regulatory authorities who will continue to be responsible for maintaining patient safety. This is about making sure the system is joined up, responsive, and working for patients," he said.
"By listening to patients and setting system-wide expectations, we'll make it easier to attract, train, and retain the workforce New Zealand needs to deliver access to timely, quality care."
