FYI - seminar at LSE this week - again this perspective on health system reform in New Zealand may be of interest to some list members
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From: Allin,SM
Dear All,
This is a reminder that this Thursday the following seminar will be taking place.
An abstract for the talk is below. A sandwich lunch will be provided.
Sara and Cate
Thursday 26th June 2008 (12.30-13.45)
How much can we expect of our health care system? The New Zealand reform period and its aftermath
Professor Peter Davis, Department of Sociology, University of Auckland
*Room G1 – 20 Kingsway
Abstract
In the last ten years government funding of health in New Zealand has nearly doubled in nominal terms. And yet, if we take the media reports at face value, the health system is still beset with the usual stock of shortages and quality issues. Is this accurate? Can we expect more of our health system? Or is it just a matter of rising public expectations?
The core of this paper is an assessment of the New Zealand health reforms of the 1990s, with data on hospital productivity and patient outcomes. The results may surprise, and could have a lesson for our current discontents. There are also implications for debates on the future of the NHS, particularly in the light of both recent and mooted reform.