1604 NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE No. 71

• improve access to and co-ordination and effectiveness of services consistent with the strategic directions of the national mental health strategy, "Moving Forward"

• strengthen the mental health workforce both immediately and in the longer term.

Goal 6: Improved child health

The Crown’s objective for 1999/00 is to improve health and disability services for children so that they have the care and protection they need for the best possible start to life, including improving health outcomes for children at risk. In particular, support the implementation of the Child Health Strategy by:

• improving the coverage of preventative services, especially well child care and immunisation

• improving access to services for all children as appropriate, with special emphasis on access for tamariki Maori, Pacific children, children from families at risk of poor outcomes and children with high health and disability support needs due to chronic illness, mental illness and disability

• working as appropriate to involve families as much as is reasonable and appropriate in the decisions as to the services that will be provided to those requiring them.

Goal 7: Improved disability support services

The Crown’s objective for 1999/00 is to improve disability support services by:

• working towards ensuring national consistency of services that fosters the maximum of independence within a climate that encourages maximum choice for those people assessed as needing disability support services

• working as appropriate to involve families and other relevant support networks as much as is reasonable and appropriate in the decisions as to the services that will be provided to those people assessed as needing disability support services

• working with other agencies as appropriate on progressing the implementation of the Autism Services Report.

Goal 8: Greater emphasis on population health approaches

The Crown’s objectives for 1999/00 are to improve public health status by establishing effective population health programmes which encourage early interventions, thus reducing secondary and tertiary interventions and admissions. This will include:

• appropriate information databases on immunisation designed to ensure maximum take-up, especially of child immunisation

• programmes that address the status of specific illnesses, including diabetes ("Strategies for the Control of Diabetes in New Zealand" released by Minister of Health in October 1997)

• effective programmes that promote healthy behaviours, eg, healthy diets, exercise, less smoking, and less alcohol and drug abuse etc

• reviewing and evaluating programmes to ensure they are effective in achieving their goals and, where more effective options are identified, shifting to those options

• continuing to progress the development of the national breast cancer screening programme and the identification and management of Hepatitis B.

Goal 9: Well co-ordinated, integrated services that contribute to better health and disability outcomes

The Crown’s objective for 1999/00 is to organise high quality services around ensuring better health outcomes for people and communities

Implement innovative approaches to service funding to achieve better and more co-ordinated health and disability support services designed to achieve better outcomes for defined groups of people, communities and the population generally. This will involve: organising services around people; placing decision making about resources as close as possible to need; local solutions to local problems; and better relationships among and with providers. In particular, the Health Funding Authority should:

• develop innovative funding arrangements and innovative ways of delivering services

• continue to identify opportunities for more progress in developing integrated care initiatives both between parts of the primary sector and between the primary and secondary sectors

• encourage providers to think about and develop integrated care initiatives

• build on evaluations of existing initiatives to extend the benefits to other parts of New Zealand

• foster and encourage local communities to develop local solutions to local problems

Goal 10: Intersectoral collaboration between agencies and providers to achieve social policy objectives

The Crown’s objective for 1999/00 is to develop processes that link activities in the health and disability sector to those in the broader social sector, including supporting the implementation of:

• the Strengthening Families strategy, including Family Start and other such targeted initiatives

• the New Zealand Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy

• the National Drug Policy

• mental health destigmatisation.

Goal 11: Improved capability and adaptability of the health and disability sector

The Crown’s objectives for 1999/00 are for the Health Funding Authority to:

• encourage co-operation between providers

• work with the Ministry of Health, CCMAU and other agencies as appropriate to improve coherence between the funding and ownership functions of the health system

• work with the Ministry of Health and insurers to effectively implement the Accident Insurance Act.

Goal 12: Sustainability of the publicly funded health system

The Crown’s objectives for 1999/00 are for the Health Funding Authority to:

• ensure that where services are funded, they are funded on a sustainable long-term basis, that they will adapt to changes in technology and medical service changes over time, and that the sector is well informed as to the goals and strategies of the Health Funding Authority in its service funding strategy

• implement measures designed to reduce the pressures on demand-driven expenditure, e.g., effective education programmes and better integration of health services