Govt Launches Overhaul of Health Workforce Law to Prioritise Patients First

Government Unveils Sweeping Review of Health Workforce Laws to Prioritise Patients and Cut Red Tape.

The New Zealand Government has launched a comprehensive review of the nation’s health workforce legislation, aiming to make the healthcare system more responsive, efficient, and focused on delivering better outcomes for patients.

Health Minister Simeon Brown announced the initiative, emphasising that the current regulatory system is too bureaucratic, hampering patient access to timely and effective care and placing unnecessary burdens on healthcare professionals.

“We are committed to ensuring all New Zealanders can access timely, quality healthcare,” Minister Brown said. “Our healthcare system must be built around the needs of patients, not the demands of red tape.”

Key Focus Areas of the Review

The review will centre on several crucial areas, including:

• Prioritising patient voices in regulatory decision-making: Regulatory bodies will be expected to incorporate patient perspectives to ensure care is designed with their needs at the forefront.

• Reducing bureaucratic barriers: Outdated rules and unnecessary processes will be streamlined or removed to allow faster access to services.

• Recognising overseas qualifications more efficiently: The government aims to simplify and accelerate the process of recognising foreign-trained healthcare professionals.

• Creating a more consistent and efficient regulatory system: By aligning and harmonising decisions across New Zealand’s 18 health workforce regulatory bodies, the government hopes to drive greater efficiency.

Addressing Workforce Challenges

Minister Brown highlighted several regulatory hurdles that are currently preventing the healthcare system from performing at its best. These include the excessive clinical hours required for nursing students compared to their Australian counterparts, complicated approval processes for overseas-trained doctors, and rigid scope of practice rules that sometimes prioritise cultural requirements over clinical safety.

“New Zealand’s current health workforce regulations can be overly bureaucratic,” Brown said. “This slows down access to care, increases costs, and makes it harder for patients to get the services they need.”

The Government argues that by cutting back on administrative complexity, frontline healthcare workers will be freed up to focus more on patients and less on paperwork.

Occupations Tribunal on the Table

As part of the National-ACT Coalition agreement, the Government is also considering establishing an Occupations Tribunal to provide a clearer appeals pathway for individuals whose overseas qualifications are not recognised. This move is seen as a key step to strengthening the health workforce with much-needed international talent.

“We need to make it easier for overseas-qualified professionals to work here,” said Brown. “The faster we recognise safe, qualified practitioners, the sooner we can reduce wait times and improve care.”

Call for Public Feedback

The Government has opened public consultation on proposed changes to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, the central piece of legislation that governs regulation across all healthcare professions in New Zealand.

Healthcare professionals, patients, and members of the public are being encouraged to provide their feedback on the Putting Patients First: Modernising Health Workforce Regulation consultation document.

“Patients expect to receive care from qualified practitioners, with clinical safety as their top priority,” Brown said. “But patients also deserve a voice in the decisions that shape their care.”

Towards a More Patient-Focused System

The review marks a major step in the Government’s broader efforts to modernise and future-proof New Zealand’s healthcare system. By ensuring regulation works with healthcare professionals—not against them—the Government hopes to create a more resilient and responsive system.

The overarching goal is simple: putting patients first.

Submissions can be made online at www.health.govt.nz, with consultation open until 30 April 2025. The feedback received will inform the development of legislative changes to be introduced later this year.