The Health Quality and Safety Commission: making good health care better

Abstract

New Zealand has one of the best value health care systems in the world, but as a proportion of GDP our spending on health care has increased every year since 1999. Further, there are issues of quality and safety in our system we must address, including rates of adverse events. The Health Quality and Safety Commission was formed in 2010 as a crown agent to influence, encourage, guide and support improvement in health care practice in New Zealand. The New Zealand Triple Aim has been defined as: improved quality, safety and experience of care; improved health and equity for all populations; and best value for public health system resources. The Commission is pursuing the Triple Aim via two fundamental objectives: doing the right thing by providing care supported by the best evidence available, focused on what matters to each individual patient, and doing the right thing right, first time, by making sure health care is safe and of the highest quality possible. Improvement efforts must be supported by robust but economical measurements. New Zealand has a strong culture of quality, so the Commission's role is to work with our colleagues to make good health care better.