New health boss Lester Levy has identified shorter wait times for treatment as his top priority - and claims it can be done with existing health funding.

Professor Levy also expressed confidence today in Health NZ chief executive Margie Apa, saying he had been impressed at her willingness to take the organisation in a new direction.

The former district health board chief was appointed commissioner yesterday after the Government sacked the remaining members of the Health NZ board.

He has been tasked with finding $1.4 billion in savings while also improving services and meeting the Government’s national health targets.

That will require the disestablishment of between 2500 to 3000 “back office” roles at Health NZ, which Levy described as “bloated and bureaucratic”. It is not yet clear whether that figure includes 1600 roles already slated for disestablishment as part of the merger of district health boards into a single entity.

Speaking to reporters at North Shore Hospital today, Levy outlined his reasons for taking on the job.

He said New Zealanders should not be waiting so long for essential health services.

“I … want to stress that, from my point of view, the absolute and most urgent priority over the next few years is actually to get waiting times down, because New Zealanders need and deserve a lot better in this regard.”

Levy also said Health NZ could deliver more healthcare with existing resources. He also underlined the importance of a “compassionate” health system, saying at one point that it should be “infused with the milk of human kindness”.

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KEY POINTS:

• The Govt has sacked the Health NZ board and appointed Lester Levy as the sole commissioner for 12 months.

• Levy told reporters today his top priority is reducing waiting times in the health system.

• He has personal family experience of relying on healthcare in the past year.

• The Govt says Health NZ was overspending by $130 million each month.

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In appointing a commissioner, Health Minister Reti blamed the previous government’s “mismanaged health reforms, which resulted in an overly centralised operating model, limited oversight of financial and non-financial performance, and fragmented administrative data systems which were unable to identify risks until it was too late”.

Labour’s health spokeswoman Dr Ayesha Verrall, the former Health Minister, said the previous government was not to blame for Health NZ’s deficits.

Verrall said the Government did not put enough money into health in this year’s Budget. The Government’s $1.4b top-up did not take into account updated figures on demographic changes, she said.

Health NZ reported a deficit of $1b in its first full year of operation (2022/23) but this was put down to one-off events including the pay equity agreement for nurses and Covid-19 costs.

It was expected to have no deficit in the 2023/24 year and deliver half a billion dollars worth of savings by streamlining systems after the merger of the DHBs.

Reti said he became aware of Health NZ’s deteriorating financial position for the 2023/24 year and beyond in March.

The half billion in savings were “in doubt” by the middle of the financial year and other solutions needed to be found to bridge the gap, a Cabinet paper released by Reti showed.

Since April, Health NZ has placed significant restrictions on recruitment. While it has denied a hiring freeze on front-line workers, many parts of the sector have said the restrictions were effectively a freeze and were preventing key roles from being filled.

Isaac Davison is an Auckland-based reporter who covers health issues. He joined the Herald in 2008 and has previously covered the environment, politics and social issues.