Democratic Governance and Health: Hospitals, Politics and Health Policy in New Zealand
This book traces the development of New Zealand’s elected health boards, from the 1930s to the present District Health Board structure, analysing the history of democratic governance of health care, how boards have functioned, the politics surrounding their reform, and the idea of local democracy in health care decision-making. Based on extensive primary research, it assesses the capacity of elected boards to effectively govern the allocation of public expenditure on behalf of taxpayers and patients. Are there alternatives to the existing District Health Board model? How might the electoral model be improved upon? The concluding chapter provides some suggestions.