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Health overhaul set to shift key decision-making back to local level

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 17 Mar 2026, 8:53am
Photo / Getty Images
Photo / Getty Images

Health overhaul set to shift key decision-making back to local level

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 17 Mar 2026, 8:53am

The Health Minister's unveiled an overhaul of the health system. 

It will see workforce, budget, service delivery, and recruitment decisions made at the local level from July. 

Simeon Brown says it's a significant change but isn't a return to the old district health board system.  

He told Mike Hosking the Government's also committing $25 million towards a new winter health plan. 

Brown says New Zealand has a growing and aging population, so the investment is needed to ensure the country is prepared for winter. 

The plan will deliver hundreds of extra staff, 71 extra hospital beds, and up to 567 short-stay aged-care beds over the peak winter period. 

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