New Zealand health providers face rising care pressures

TechnologyOne convened a roundtable of New Zealand health and community services leaders to discuss pressures on care delivery and how providers are preparing for rising demand.

Participants described a sector grappling with workforce shortages, rising operating costs and more complex funding settings as organisations work to maintain services across aged care, disability support, hospitals and health insurance. They also pointed to growing expectations for transparency, reporting and accountability at a time when many providers are supporting more people with increasingly complex needs.

The discussion reflected a broader concern across the sector: how to sustain care delivery while preserving resources for frontline teams. Organisations are paying closer attention to workforce planning, financial management and operational visibility as they seek to reduce administrative strain and keep staff focused on care.

Rising strain

Demand for support is increasing as New Zealand's population ages, adding pressure to providers already facing shortages in key roles. At the same time, costs are rising and funding environments are becoming harder to navigate, putting finance and operations teams under greater scrutiny.

That is pushing providers to focus on the systems that support day-to-day service delivery. Leaders at the roundtable said better visibility over staffing, budgets and organisational planning is becoming more important as services expand and care needs grow more complex.

New Zealand Health Group was among the organisations that took part in the discussion. The provider said pressure on labour supply and funding is forcing operators to rethink how they run services.

"Demand keeps growing, but workforce and funding pressures mean we need to think differently about how we operate. Our challenge is maintaining high-quality care and support while making the best use of our resources. Strengthening the systems and processes that support frontline teams is central to making this happen," said Bevan Cho, Group Financial Controller, New Zealand Health Group.

Operational focus

For providers, the issue is not only whether they can deliver more services, but whether they have the structure to do so sustainably. Roundtable participants said capacity planning and access to reliable operational information are becoming central to decisions on staffing and resource allocation.

Heritage Lifecare highlighted the difficulty of matching services to increasingly varied community needs. It said getting the underlying systems right can help ensure workers are deployed where they are needed most.

"The challenge isn't simply delivering more services. It's ensuring we have the capacity, systems and information to meet increasingly complex community needs. Getting those foundations right ensures we can allocate our staff where they have the greatest impact," said Chandra Yee, Finance Operations Manager, Heritage Lifecare.

The issues raised at the roundtable show how providers are trying to balance care quality with financial discipline. While service models differ across the sector, leaders identified common concerns around compliance, reporting and the need for clearer operational oversight.

Shared concerns

The discussion showed broad alignment across organisations on what needs attention. Leaders from different parts of the sector reported similar operational pressures, despite serving different groups of patients and communities.

Those concerns include workforce planning, financial management and the burden of compliance. Providers said these areas are now closely tied to their ability to maintain sustainable services as expectations from funders, regulators and the public continue to rise.

There was also a focus on reducing the time frontline teams spend away from direct care. Participants said stronger organisational foundations can help redirect time and resources towards the people receiving support rather than administrative processes.

TechnologyOne New Zealand Country Manager Ben Sheehan said the discussion reflected a common agenda across the sector. "Throughout the discussion, we heard a shared focus on sustainability, visibility and supporting frontline teams. Organisations provide different services, but many manage similar challenges around workforce planning, financial management, compliance and reporting. With the right technology, providers can direct more resources towards the people and communities they support."