Progress on new national health targets

The latest national health target results, released today, show district health boards (DHBs) have made great progress on the new increased immunisation and shorter waits for cancer treatment targets.

"This is the first time chemotherapy wait times have been included in the cancer target," says Health Minister Tony Ryall.

"All DHBs have achieved the new target with every patient receiving their radiotherapy and chemotherapy cancer treatment within the four week international gold standard.

"This is an excellent result and shows the commitment of health professionals to provide New Zealanders with faster cancer treatment."

"DHBs have also had a great start to the new eight month old immunisation target, achieving 87 per cent. They have exceeded the step target of having 85 per cent of eight months old vaccinated on time by July 2013 - working towards a target of 95 per cent by 2014.

"DHBs continue to make improvements in the other targets," says Mr Ryall.

"They have again exceeded the elective surgery target - performing 40,099 elective operations this quarter. And there continues to be a steady increase in the number of people who have heart and diabetes checks.

"Emergency departments (EDs) experienced increased pressure over winter, and the shorter stays in EDs target decreased slightly this quarter. However results over the winter months have improved year on year - with 5000 more people being admitted, treated or discharged within six hours compared to last winter.

Information about the national health targets and a copy of the latest results are available on the Ministry of Health website.