Open sessions at Te Whatu Ora board meetings

Earlier this year, the Board of Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora decided to no longer include a public session as part of the monthly meeting.

That decision was based on the fact there are already a number of ways for people to learn about the work of Health NZ - something we had used the open board sessions to promote.

We also knew the number of individual viewers for open sessions over the past six months peaked at only 149 on one occasion, dropping as low as 48 more recently. The large majority of viewers were our own people, and there are existing channels and regular opportunities to keep them informed.

We recognise and appreciate the public interest in the work of Health NZ and are committed to openness and transparency and building on the information available about our work.

Health NZ is proactively putting out a wide range of information through channels, publications and stakeholder forums, and is responsive to media queries and making senior leaders available for interviews. We also publish quarterly reports which provide wide-ranging information on progress, achievements and challenges.

Given ongoing interest in an open session, we’re reinstating it from next month.