OPINION: The pending dismantling of our 20 district health boards (DHBs) is a searing reminder of New Zealand’s unhealthy obsession with building bureaucracies. Does the team of 5 million really need to be locally lorded over by 77 councils which we don’t eagerly engage with? The framework will traverse what local government does, how it does it – and how it’s financed. But the evidence is overwhelming that the fragmented nature of the DHB system has fuelled the postcode lottery, the delays in diagnosis and delays in treatment. Stuff “The evidence is overwhelming that the fragmented nature of the DHB system has fuelled the postcode lottery, the delays in diagnosis and delays in treatment,” writes Mike Yardley.

Source: Stuff April 26, 2021 17:03 UTC