New strategy launched to improve quality and safety across New Zealand’s health and disability system
The Commission has released the New Zealand Health and Disability System Safety Strategy (the strategy), a long‑term strategy to improve the quality and safety of the health and disability system in New Zealand.
The strategy defines what we expect of the system and how we will act collectively to reduce potentially avoidable harm, support learning and provide safe, people-centred care that supports equal health outcomes for everyone
“The aim of this strategy is simple, we want a health and disability system that consistently delivers safe, high‑quality, people‑centred care for everyone in New Zealand.” says Dr Martin Thomas, Director of Quality and Safety at the Commission.
The strategy supports the continued evolution of the quality and safety of care in New Zealand over the next 10 years.
A system wide approach to safety
The strategy focuses on system safety; a people‑centred approach which looks at how the health system shapes experiences and outcomes for patients, whānau and the workforce, and how this understanding can be used for learning and improvement.
Rather than focusing on individual error, system safety strengthens the conditions that support safe care, including leadership, collaboration, learning and workforce support.
“Health workers do extraordinary work in complex and pressured environments, this strategy supports them by focusing on how the system enables safer practice and outcomes for consumers, rather than placing responsibility on individuals alone,” says Dr Thomas.
People at the centre
Patients and whānau are central to defining what people-centred care looks like. The strategy recognises their experiences are essential to understanding where quality and safety can be improved.
Health workers are also recognised as central to system safety. Their experience of delivering care provides critical insight into how systems, processes and environments affect quality and safety.
By enabling and supporting the workforce – through a focus on capability, resources, cultural safety and psychological safety – the system is strengthened and has an improved ability to anticipate and respond to risk.
The first step
The release of this strategy is the first step. It has been developed with input and support from the health and disability sector. Following its release, the Commission will work with the sector to develop an action plan. This will provide more detail of what the strategy looks like in practice including the structures, relationships and expectations to enable greater consistency and collaboration around quality and safety.
“This strategy sets the direction, the action plan will set out how we work together to turn that direction into practical, system‑wide change for the people of New Zealand,” says Dr Thomas.
The strategy applies to all publicly funded and regulated health and disability services and provides guidance for how the sector works together over the next 10 years. It aligns with the World Health Organization's Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021-2030 and New Zealand’s commitment to the Mandaluyong Declaration on Patient Safety which recognises the role of system safety as a pillar of global health systems.
For more information, contact systemsafetystrategy@hqsc.govt.nz
Note that in the strategy, the word ‘patient’ refers to any person who engages with the health and disability system in New Zealand at any stage of their life.