Sharp drop in cardiac patients getting timely care, some vaccine rates fall, Health NZ data shows

Friday, 10 July 2026

Health targets are slipping in several areas, with the number of heart patients receiving timely surgery falling 8.1% due to a sharp rise in demand for urgent procedures, while influenza vaccination rates have dropped among older adults.

The figures, released in Health New Zealand’s Statement of Performance Expectations, show the Government missed its immunisation targets.

The data showed slipping GP and nurse care satisfaction, with the number of patients feeling involved in their own treatment dropping 3.8% to 86% from the year prior, while timely access to care dipped 0.7%.

The number of people aged at least 65 years who completed at least one influenza vaccination dropped considerably, from 64.3% to 58.9%, against a 75% target.

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Immunisation rates for children fully immunised at 24 months saw improvement, increasing from 77.3% to 83.7%, however children fully immunised at 5 years old dropped slightly, from 73.5% to 72.8%.

The percentage of cardiac patients receiving elective treatment within four months fell from 83.1% to 75%, driven by an increase in acute cardiac presentations that displaced planned surgeries.

Health NZ health target performance and improvement director Duncan Bliss said all waitlisted cardiac patients are continually monitored and assessed.

He said if a patient's condition deteriorated, they would be reprioritised for surgery as their condition necessitated.

The data showed 946 fewer people were accessing support from problem gambling services, from 7696 to 6750 in 2025.

The 12.29% decline comes despite Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey identifying increased access to gambling harm services as a priority last year.

Doocey has funded $81.3 million across three years in 2025 to curb gambling harm.

Mentally Well acting director Lisa Gestro said the reason for decline was not yet fully understood, but more people were accessing support digitally rather than through traditional face-to-face services.

She said providers were seeing people present with more complex and interconnected needs, and practitioners often spent more time supporting each client, reducing the overall number of people they can support.

Doocey, on the other hand, believed the drop to be a shift away from specialised support to primary mental health support, saying 84,345 people accessed primary mental health support in the most recent quarter, up from 73,239 a year earlier.

Children enrolled with a GP or kaupapa Māori provider by three months old had decreased 1.6%.

Health NZ is working to improve enrolment, including strengthening follow-up of newborn enrolment notifications, streamlining administrative processes, and providing practices more time to complete enrolments with families.

While breast cancer screening rates fell 1.2%, the number of mammograms increased, with 28,758 completed in May - the highest monthly total since 2018.

Health NZ said the decline in the screening rate reflected the expansion of eligibility to women aged 70 to 74, which increased the number of eligible women.

However, several major health targets improved, including cancer treatment timeliness and emergency department wait times.

The number of patients receiving cancer management within 31 days of the decision to treat increased 2.8%, while the patients admitted, discharged or transferred from an emergency department within six hours increased 7.3%.

Health Minister Simeon Brown said his focus is on ensuring all New Zealanders have access to timely, quality healthcare.