Exclusive: The commissioner of Health New Zealand-Te Whatu Ora, Dr Lester Levy , tells the Herald about his concern at record wait times in the health system, and what gives him confidence things can be turned around. The boss of Health NZ says patients “need and deserve better”, as progress on treating cancer patients quickly goes backwards. Key measures of health performance are worsening.
They include the proportion of cancer patients who receive their first treatment within 31 days of the decision to treat. That fell to 81.9% in the third quarter of 2023/24 (January 1 to March 31), from 85.
4% in the second quarter. The official target had been 85%. This was revised to 90% when the National-led Government set out its five targets for the health system to achieve by 2030.
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