Five guiding principles
- Access to publicly funded healthcare services should be based primarily on clinical need.
- Patients should have equitable access regardless of geographic location.
- National consistency in service provision is essential to achieving equity.
- Innovation and new therapies should be implemented in a coordinated and timely national framework.
- Equity must be supported by transparency, accountability and measurable outcomes.
What the NZSP Want
We recommend that Health New Zealand:
Publish a national equity roadmap
Clearly outline how equitable access will be achieved across regions, define priority areas, timelines and measurable outcomes, and include workforce, infrastructure and service distribution planning.
Establish and publicly release national equity principles
Guide decision-making in service design, prioritisation and resource allocation; ensure consistency across regions and specialties; and provide transparency for clinicians and the public.
Develop national service specifications
Set minimum standards and availability for key specialist services across the country.
Create national referral pathways
Enable patients to access services outside their region when those services are unavailable locally.
Standardise clinical prioritisation tools
Ensure waiting lists are based on clinical need and consistently applied.
Implement a national framework for adopting new therapies
Reduce regional variation in access to emerging diagnostics and treatments.
Invest in workforce and infrastructure
Target underserved regions to reduce structural inequities.
Monitor and publicly report variation
Report regional access to diagnostics and therapies, together with waiting times.
Our mission and six priorities
“To improve the Health of all New Zealanders”
A distinctive New Zealand voice
To represent and promote the practice of pathologists, pathology and laboratory medicine in New Zealand and to ensure there is always a distinctive New Zealand voice to represent and find practical solutions which will work for our unique local situations, approaches and culture. To be inclusive, honest, and open when expressing the views of our members.
Strong pathology services
To support and foster the growth and development of pathology and laboratory medicine practice in New Zealand, always respecting the differences between the public and funded sector provision of pathology services.
Workforce and training
To advocate for appropriate workforce numbers in pathology and in pathology training, that meet the demands of the growing and aging population and the increasing complexity of pathology workloads.
Scientific and clinical collaboration
To develop close relationships with medical laboratory scientists, and, where appropriate, to promote models of better cooperation and synergies of working together in the New Zealand health system.
Equitable access and new testing
To work with all appropriate governmental and non-governmental agencies, particularly the RCPA and the NZILMS to ensure that we are striving, so all New Zealanders have equitable access to an appropriate range of pathology tests, either laboratory focused or delivered at point of care. Further to ensure there are appropriate mechanisms to fund new testing as the scope and complexity of modern medicine expands.
Education and future careers
To promote and expand the quantity and quality of pathology teaching within New Zealand medical school curricula and to promote the practice of pathology to medical students to foster new graduates to pursue careers in pathology.