PHO Stocktake
The Ministry of Health recently looked at the ownership structures and governance arrangements of NZ's 74 Public Health Organisations (PHOs). The findings of the stocktake are to be found in a paper, "Health Report - Stocktake of PHO Governance Arrangements".
The survey showed that 30 PHOs are registered under the Companies Act 1993, 30 registered under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957, and five registered under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908. An analysis of their legal documents showed that:
- eighteen PHOs have constitutions which place no requirement on the organisation's governance structure to include community, consumer, Maori, or heath service provider/practitioner representation;
- only nine of the constitutions specifically provide for consumer representation (40 out of the 74 specifically provide for practitioner representation, 45 provide for Maori representation and 45 provide for community representation);
- only five of the PHOs have constitutions which provide for meetings to be held in public;
- only "several" constitutions identified the organisation providing management services; and
- a number of PHOs were found to have common shareholders or joint settlers in the case of charitable trusts.
In a commentary on the survey, the Ministry says the findings have "raised the issue of control over the provision of primary care services to the community". Additionally, some PHOs were "struggling at the moment with a range of issues including how best to direct and lead the independent and privately owned for profit practices associated with the PHO". The Ministry of Health will discuss the issues with the 21 DHBs, then report back to the Minister of Health.
A copy of the report can be found at: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/0/2EDB18DA748BAD71CC25711E00755E6C/$File/health-report-stocktake-pho-governance-arrangements.doc |
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