Further headaches for floundering public health system demonstrate the failures of centralisation

Responding to two different reports published in the last week lambasting the struggles that the new Public Health Authority and National Public Health Service (Te Whatu Ora) are experiencing daily, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, says:

“Taking health matters out of resident’s hands has proven to be a massive mistake, with the previous government’s obsession with centralisation sapping vital resources from our health system and has generated more bureaucracy and cost rather than improved health outcomes.

"It is damning, but not unsurprising, that reviews of these new entities show a culture of chaos, confusion and constraints – a true bureaucratic mess, exactly as predicted when the decision to centralise control and decision making away from local communities.

“Having a publicly funded health system does not necessitate having the government providing every service. Where a service can be provided sooner, cheaper or to a higher standard than the public health system, patients should have the choice to take their funding elsewhere to bring much needed competition to our healthcare."