Background to the New Zealand Ambulance Service Strategy

The Ministry of Health and ACC, in consultation with and at the direction of their Ministers, undertook the development of an ambulance service strategy.  The draft strategy was presented to Cabinet in August 2008 and released for consultation.

Advancing the Ambulance Service

On 4 June 2009, Minister Tony Ryall and Pansy Wong announced the following initiatives to advance the New Zealand ambulance services:

• 100 new paramedics
• Support for rural volunteers to reach training at the Basic Life Support level
• Support for establishing paramedics as registered health professionals under the Health Practitioner Competency Assurance Act
• Additional temporary support for the air ambulance sector in recognition of the current recession’s impact on community giving to these organizations

The New Zealand Ambulance Service Strategy

The New Zealand Ambulance Service Strategy identifies the ambulance service as the first line of mobile emergency intervention in the continuum of health care.  To progress this vision by 2010, the strategy envisages work in 10 initiatives, in no particular order:

Initiative 1: Establish a unit that is accountable to, and under the direction of, the funders to progress the Ambulance Service Strategy, advise the funders, and administer Health and ACC policy providing strategic leadership to the sector.

Initiative 2: Develop mandated transparent, sustainable funding model(s) that link external drivers to agreed service expectations.

Initiative 3: Develop outcome performance indicators to monitor the contracted performance of providers.

Initiative 4: Develop a framework to facilitate effective consultation with the community on long-term planning for the required quantity, locations and funding for the ambulance service.

Initiative 5: Improve the sustainability of the paid and volunteer workforce and investigate alternative service models.

Initiative 6: Improve the integration of the ambulance sector into the New Zealand emergency management planning system.

Initiative 7: Improve the level and extent of clinical expertise, develop procedures for utilising consistent protocols for a given condition regardless of setting, and extending the role of the paramedic

Initiative 8: Introduce sector-wide information capability for evaluating health outcomes.

Initiative 9: Improve ambulance service configurations and deployment.

Initiative 10: Ensure that response and resolution of call-out is clinically appropriate for each patient

Click here to download the New Zealand Ambulance Strategy

Click here to download a graphical summary of the New Zealand Ambulance Service Strategy