NZPSHA Member Newsletter
May 2026

Kia ora

The Executive Committee of NZPSHA met last week, working through a full agenda for its Quarterly Meeting. NZPSHA also met with ACC and hosted a webinar with Health New Zealand. Noteworthy outcomes from all of these and much more can be found in this latest newsletter.

Ngā mihi, Chris Roberts CEO

ACC Meeting

 NZPSHA meets every quarter with ACC. At last week's meeting we were joined by the new Deputy Chief Executive for System Commissioning and Performance, Lisa Williams.

ACC is very focused on its Turnaround Plan and the financial sustainability of the scheme. The renewed emphasis on case management is starting to have an impact. ACC is declining more requests for treatment and has published post-surgery guidelines to set expectations for return to work.

Secondary Care pathway

ACC is proposing a radical shake-up of musculoskeletal secondary care, with new triage services to operate nationwide. 170,000 cases per year are expected to go through the new triage process to determine the most appropriate treatment, and an open market process will be run shortly to find providers willing to offer the service. 

More details will be available at the consultation session next month (see below).

Elective Surgery Services

ACC is still refusing to budge on its decision to increase the surgical services fee schedule by just 0.77% from 1 July 2026. At the meeting it was acknowledged that there are cost increases for specialists and nurses not captured in that calculation, but these will not be taken into account by ACC until it is working on any pricing changes for 2027. 

In NZPSHA's view, ACC's stance is quite unreasonable. 2026/27 is the final year of the current elective surgery services contract and there needs to be better protection for contract holders in the arrangements that will replace it.

ACC Secondary Care Market Engagement

ACC is hosting an online market engagement event on 16 June to provide an update on the development of a new service delivery model for secondary care services.

One of the key proposals is a new Musculoskeletal Secondary Care Service, to strengthen eligibility and referral processes to ensure only those who really need specialist care are receiving it.   

During the market engagement event, ACC will share more details about the new Musculoskeletal Secondary Care Service, a summary of the feedback received to date, and what the proposed changes mean for ACC's Clinical Services, Elective Services, and High‑Tech Imaging contracts.

Event details:  

Tuesday 16 June 2026  
12.00pm to 1.00pm   

Register now

Webinar

Senior Health NZ leaders Cath Cronin, Jason Power and Peter Guthrie provided another webinar update for NZPSHA members last week. If you missed it, the presentation can be found in the Members Zone of the NZPSHA website.

Year to date figures showed elective surgery outsourcing volumes were ahead of target, with insourced volumes slightly behind. Health New Zealand is seeking a 1% 'buffer' to ensure the full year surgery target is met and is currently looking to match identified cases with providers who have the capacity to take extra cases before 30 June.

Panel Agreements

Members of the Northern Region Panel are being shifted to the National Panel, and all current panel members should by the end of this week have received a new 5 plus 5-year panel agreement offer.

For those surgical providers who do not have a panel agreement, there is still no formal process to get added to the panel. However, if you have spare capacity that you think could address a Health NZ outsourcing need, you can contact Acting National Director, Planning, Funding and Outcomes Jason Power.

Statements of Work

New Statements of Work are to be issued to all surgical providers by 1 June 2026. Health NZ says this should enable providers to start booking July and August surgical lists, mitigating the referral gap that has frequently occurred in previous years.

Commitment Contracts

Health NZ was not willing to speak during the webinar about the proposed three-year commitment contracts for minimum volumes, as they are still under discussion. However, all of the initial commitment offers were rejected by Health NZ, and it is not clear whether any successful agreements will be reached. 

Global supply disruption

 Health New Zealand's National Coordination Centre (NCC) has been tasked with monitoring the impacts of the Middle East conflict on health services in New Zealand.

The NCC remains at Mode 1 (Heightened Coordination) and its advice is that the health system remains stable with no disruption to critical services. 

However, sustained fuel cost escalation is creating operational and financial pressure across transport, logistics, and service delivery. 

Health has been listed as a "critical user" that will be prioritised at Phase 4 (rationing). However, the Government says the likelihood that New Zealand will need to go to Phase 4 is less than 10%.

NZPSHA Executive Committee Meeting

 Your Executive Committee met in Wellington on 13 May. Items on the agenda included the budget and business plan for the year ahead. The Committee accepted a proposal from CEO Chris Roberts to employ a part-time Events and Membership Coordinator, to ensure NZPSHA can enhance the value it delivers to members.

Chris will also be surveying members on what you want from your association, and he will be undertaking a minor brand refresh.

The Committee also agreed to progress work on a new productivity-focused benchmarking module. Some of the Committee members volunteered their facilities to provide data so that a test report can be prepared. This benchmarking example will then be shared with the wider membership.  If there is sufficient
member interest, the new benchmarking product will likely be introduced in 2027.

Quality Managers Network

The Network met online at the end of April, with most members represented.

A full agenda included hearing from Beverley Sutton, CEO of the Australasian Institute of Clinical Governance (AICG), who presented an overview of the Institute’s clinical governance products.

Marie Russell presented Grace Hospital’s project to enhance care for tamariki with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), detailing the process improvements, outcomes, and plans for broader application.

There were also updates on the new sterilisation certification programme, sourcing and implementing Māori and Pacific cultural training for staff, and an impending NHI format change.

If you or a colleague wishes to join the Quality Managers Network, please contact Lynne Downing or Angela Dewhirst.

2026 NZPSHA Conference

Registrations are coming in fast for the Conference in Auckland in September. Don't miss out and don't pay more than you need to - Early Bird prices are available until 8 June. There is an extra member discount if you sign up three or more delegates at the same time. Visit the conference website to register. 

Conference Scholarships - apply now

NZPSHA is offering Education Scholarships to attend this year's Conference. Hospital management can nominate an emerging leader to receive $1,000 towards conference registration. One entry will be accepted per hospital. Simply email Chris with the person's details and why they deserve the scholarship. 

NZPSHA Awards

Has your organisation been innovative, have you delivered an improved patient experience, have you had success in promoting safety, do you have an outstanding leader who deserves to be recognised? If yes, then you should be preparing your entries now for the 2026 NZPSHA Awards.

There are three individual and five business awards to select from. 

We should always celebrate great achievements, so do not hesitate to enter.

We have kept the criteria and the entry process as simple as possible.

All the details are available on our website: NZPSHA Awards

Entries are open until 30 June - but don't leave your entries to the last minute!

The finalists will be announced in July and the winners unveiled at a Gala Awards Dinner being held in conjunction with our Annual Conference in September.

Pelvic Surgical Mesh Registry

Pru Sheahan is NZPSHA's representative on the groups providing oversight of the ongoing surgical mesh programme.

Pru reports that Health New Zealand has approved a project to deliver a national pelvic mesh registry, with a pilot phase targeted for late June. and phased national rollout anticipated from October. The Christchurch region has been confirmed as the pilot site.

The registry will incorporate patient‑reported outcome measures (PROMs) and is intended to operate as an early warning system for emerging safety concerns, alongside ACC and complaints data.

Meantime, the Ministry of Health is progressing a review of the National Credentialling Framework, with a final report expected in June. Key themes include patient safety, access inequities, service availability where credentialling is not pursued, and preservation of patient choice. 

Sterile Services Certification Scheme

Katrina Hutching is the NZPSHA representative on the oversight committee of the certification programme for sterile services, which is now underway.  

Katrina says the scheme for this three-year certification will be managed by the New Zealand Sterile Services Association (NZSSA) and includes a full certification audit at the start and completion of the audit cycle, an interim surveillance audit at 18 months, and the follow up of corrective actions (if any).

It is expected that these audits will be conducted in 1.5 to 3 days depending on the size of the service being audited.

New NZPSHA Members

A warm welcome to our new members, Tasman Day Surgery in Richmond and Alison Surgical Centre in Hamilton. NZPSHA now has 36 members, operating around 50 hospitals and other surgical facilities nationwide.

Members-only Zone

 If you haven't yet registered for the Member Zone, go to our website, click on Member Zone at top of the page, then click the "Join" button and complete the short form. 

If you have colleagues who want to receive these newsletters, get them to also sign up in the Members Zone.

CEO's availability

Chris Roberts will be overseas on leave from 4-21 June, so there may be delays in responding to member queries during that time. If you have an urgent matter, please contact NZPSHA President Blair Roxborough, and any conference queries can go to organiser Donna Clapham.

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