The Office of the Auditor-General has announced it will conduct a performance audit to look at how well Health New Zealand is supporting equitable access to ‘planned care’ non-urgent medical or surgical treatment.
Demand for planned care has been increasing across New Zealand, with waiting lists for treatment getting longer, and inequities in access to treatment becoming apparent.
People living in rural areas, disabled people, Māori people, and Pacific people can wait longer for treatment than other New Zealanders. This is partly because of inconsistencies in the ways that patients are prioritised for treatment, the Office said in a statement announcing the audit.
“To help address this, Health New Zealand has been working to ensure that patients are being prioritised for treatment in ways that are nationally consistent,” said Auditor-General, John Ryan.
“We will look at how well Health New Zealand is supporting equitable access to treatment for New Zealanders going through the planned care system. We will focus on its work to ensure that the approaches used to prioritise patients for treatment are being applied in ways that are consistent throughout the country.
“To do this, we will assess how well Health New Zealand understands where there are inequities in people’s access to treatment. We will look at how Health New Zealand supports clinicians and others to achieve greater consistency in how patients are prioritised.”

Mr Ryan said his Office will also assess how well Health New Zealand monitors and evaluates its work to understand the effectiveness of their efforts and what changes in their approach may be needed.
“This includes how well Health New Zealand reports to decision-makers, Parliament, and the public about access to treatment, and whether this effectively supports decision-making and discussion about the health needs of New Zealanders,” he said.
Mr Ryan said the audit work will provide Parliament and the public with an independent view on how well Health New Zealand is supporting efforts to ensure that access to treatment is equitable.
“We will highlight good practice and, if appropriate, suggest improvements that Health New Zealand could make.”
The performance audit is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2025.