About Counties Manukau District Health Board

Counties Manukau District Health Board was established in January 2001 under the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000 as one of the 21 Districts Health Boards (DHB's). The objectives of the DHB's (Section 22) are:

1. to improve, promote, and protect the health of people and communities;

2. to promote the integration of health services, especially primary and secondary health services;

3. to promote effective care or support for those in need of personal health services or disability support;

4. to promote the inclusion and participation in society and independence of people with disabilities;

5. to reduce health disparities by improving health outcomes for Maori and other population groups;

6. to reduce, with a view to eliminating, health outcome disparities between various population groups within New Zealand by developing and implementing, in consultation with the groups concerned, services and programmes designed to raise their health outcomes to those of other New Zealanders;

7. to exhibit a sense of social responsibility by having regard to the interests of the people to whom it provides, or for whom it arranges the provision of, services;

8. to foster community participation in health improvement, and in planning for the provision of services and for significant changes to the provision of services;

9. to uphold the ethical and quality standards commonly expected of providers of services and of public sector organisations;

10. to exhibit a sense of environmental responsibility by having regard to the environmental implications of its operations;

11. to be a good employer.

For the purpose of pursuing its objectives, each DHB has the following functions (Section 23 of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000):

1. to ensure the provision of services for its resident population and for other people as specified in its Crown funding agreement;

2. to actively investigate, facilitate, sponsor, and develop co-operative and collaborative arrangements with persons in the health and disability sector or in and other sector to improve, promote, and protect the health of the people, and to promote the inclusion and participation in society and independence of people with disabilities;

3. to issue relevant information to the resident population, persons in the health and disability sector, and persons in any other sector working to improve, promote, and protect the health of the people for the purposes of paragraphs (a) and (b);

4. to establish and maintain processes to enable Maori to participate in, and contribute for, strategies for Maori health improvement;

5. to continue to foster the development of Maori capacity for participating in the health and disability sector and for providing for the needs of Maori;

6. to provide relevant information to Maori for the purposes of paragraphs (d) and (e);

7. to regularly investigate, assess, and monitor the health status of its resident population, any factors that the DHB believes may adversely affect the health status of that population for services;

8. to promote the reduction of adverse social and environmental effects on the health of people and communities;

9. to monitor the delivery and performance of services by it, and by persons engaged by it to provide or arrange for the provision of services;

10. to participate, where appropriate, in the training of health professionals and other workers in the health and disability sector;

11. to provide information to the Minister for the purposes of policy development, planning, and monitoring in relation to the performance of the DHB and to the health and disability support needs of New Zealanders;

12. to provide, or arrange for the provision of, services on behalf of the Crown or and Crown entity within the meaning of the Public Finance Act 1989;

13. to collaborate with pre-schools and schools within its geographical area on the fostering of health promotion and on disease prevention programmes;

14. to perform any other functions it is for the time being given by or under any enactment, or authorised to perform by the Minister by written notice to the board of the DHB after consultation with it.