Health NZ will deliver an extra 75,000 diagnostic procedures this year - including scans, heart tests and colonoscopies - using public and private providers, under a $65 million programme announced by Health Minister Simeon Brown.
The funding has been sourced from "efficiencies found in the outsourcing baselines across all four regions of Health New Zealand", with the balance coming from a a pool set aside to support the delivery of the Government's key health targets, Brown said on Thursday.
"It is estimated that approximately 40,000 New Zealanders are waiting longer than they should for the tests they need. Long waits not only cause stress and anxiety for patients and their families, they also delay the start of treatment and put extra pressure on our hospitals.
"This investment will expand access and reduce wait times so people can get answers sooner, doctors can diagnose problems earlier, and patients can begin the right treatment without delay. For many, getting the right test at the right time will be life-changing."
Over the next year, the programme will deliver 74,950 additional procedures through both public and private providers, including: 64,000 radiology procedures, 7100 colonoscopies, 2200 cardiac tests, 1650 colposcopies
The diagnostics investment was in addition to the recently launched $30m investment in community-referred radiology, which allowed patients to be referred for an ultrasound, CT, or x-ray directly by their GP, urgent care doctor, or nurse practitioner - without needing a hospital specialist or emergency department referral.
"By boosting capacity and widening referral pathways, we are cutting out double-handling, reducing delays, and ensuring patients get the right diagnosis and treatment sooner.
The Minister said the initiative was supported by targeted workforce growth, with work underway to expand training places in radiology and echo-sonography.
"It will also free up hospital specialists to focus on first specialist assessments and elective surgeries while reducing pressure on our emergency departments, which will help deliver on the government's health targets."
Health NZ said the estimated 74,920 extra procedures represented an increase of 11.2 percent.
The funding is set to run until the end of the financial year, on 30 June 2026.
'Just fluff' - ex-Health NZ head
However, ex-Health NZ chairperson Rob Campbell dismissed the announcement as an attempt to divert attention from the bigger problems dogging the public health system.
In an interview with Midday Report, he noted savings from "efficiencies" were likely to come from underspending, due to workforce shortages.
"It's a good priority, but the announcement from the Minister is really just fluff and diversion from all the bad news flowing out of health and the strikes currently taking place from many senior staff.
"And this is not new money. The Minister's own announcement makes it clear that this money that's been saved or results from efficiencies elsewhere in the service."
While it was good that the money would be spent on diagnostic services, it was misleading to claim it as a new initiative, he said.
He was also sceptical there would be the workforce available to do the extra work, given the tremendous pressures on both the public and private sectors.
"You can't just suddenly produce the workforce out of nowhere."
Today's announcement comes after nationwide strikes by senior doctors and nurses over pay and conditions.
Brown has been in conflict with the doctors' union, blaming them for failed pay talks with the Ministry of Health and posting a message in his electorate office windows thanking doctors who were not striking.
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