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First class health care
New Zealand’s health system has been placed second among six developed countries by The Commonwealth Fund Report
New Zealand comes in ahead of Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada with only Germany ranked higher.
New Zealand's high ranking comes despite having the lowest per capita health spending of the six countries. Health Minister Pete Hodgson said that the report was a welcome endorsement of New Zealand's world-class health workforce, but said no one should allow international reputation to be cause for complacency.
Hodgson said: "We [New Zealand] have a system based on fairness that delivers timely, high-quality care for all New Zealanders." New Zealand ranked in the top-half on all but one of the indicators used by the Fund, with second rankings in the areas of timely access to treatment and surgery, patient-centred care and efficiency. On one measure – provision of care based on scientific evidence – New Zealand ranked sixth. "Overall, I'm very pleased with how our health system compares internationally, but in New Zealand we set our own standards and I think we still have a lot of work to do." continues Hodgson. "In the coming months, I'll be talking about areas where we need to improve our performance, including prevention, productivity and better care for both children and older New Zealanders."
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15 December 2006