My View - Keeping patients connected

VIEW - Minister of Health Simeon Brown

As Minister of Health, I get the opportunity to regularly visit emergency departments, clinics, and community health services across New Zealand, speaking with patients and clinicians about the pressures winter brings. The message has been consistent: demand rises quickly, and the system needs to be ready to respond.

Virtual care

One of the clearest shifts I have seen in response is the growing role of virtual care. It is helping services stay connected with patients when demand is high or travel is difficult, particularly in parts of the country where distances are long or weather can disrupt access. In doing so, it supports continuity of care and reduces unnecessary pressure on emergency departments.

Hospital in the Home is a strong example of how this is working in practice. Across New Zealand, patients who would otherwise remain in hospital are receiving hospital-level care in their own homes, supported by regular clinical reviews, remote monitoring, and clear pathways back to hospital if their condition changes. For many patients, this is not just clinically appropriate, but preferable.

Patients often say they recover better at home when it is safe to do so, able to sleep in their own bed, make a cup of tea when they feel like it, and stay connected to their community. Clinicians see the benefits as well. Monitoring patients at home allows for earlier intervention and helps reduce avoidable hospital admissions, while every patient safely cared for at home frees up a hospital bed for someone else. This becomes especially important over the winter months.

Scaling up

To support this kind of care at scale, the right digital tools are essential. Remote monitoring devices and virtual check-ins allow clinicians to track a patient’s condition and respond early if something changes, supporting faster decision-making while maintaining clear clinical oversight.

This approach is already being put into practice through Health New Zealand’s HealthX programme, which is rolling out remote monitoring and virtual follow-up for people with heart conditions. Following a successful regional trial, 100 monitoring kits have been approved and are now being introduced in stages across Wellington, Waikato, Tairāwhiti, and Whangārei.

Early feedback from clinicians has been encouraging. Remote monitoring allows medications to be adjusted more quickly, reducing the time it takes to stabilise patients. What previously required multiple in-person visits over several months can now often be managed within weeks, with patients safely supported at home. Each monitoring kit can also be reused, making it a practical way to extend specialist care and manage demand.

Digital primary care

The same principles apply in primary care, where virtual services are improving access for patients who cannot see their usual GP or need care outside normal clinic hours. This is particularly important in rural and remote communities, where distance, weather, and transport can make access more difficult.

In response, a national 24/7 digital primary care service was launched last year, giving people access to virtual consultations with New Zealand-registered doctors and nurse practitioners at any time. Clinicians can assess symptoms, provide treatment, prescribe medications, and make referrals when patients cannot access their usual GP or need after-hours care. Early access to clinical advice can prevent conditions from worsening and reduce avoidable presentations to emergency departments.

A Shared Digital Health Record

Underpinning all of this is the need for better access to patient information. Health New Zealand’s Shared Digital Health Record is being developed to expand the information available to authorised healthcare providers, building on systems already in place in parts of the country. Its purpose is to ensure key patient information can be accessed wherever care is delivered.

This includes details such as allergies, medications, and existing conditions, supporting faster and safer clinical decision-making, including prescribing. It also enables information to be shared back to a patient’s regular GP, strengthening continuity of care. Strong privacy and security protections are central to this work, with access strictly controlled and monitored.

These tools are also making a difference in aged residential care, where timely access to clinical advice can prevent unnecessary hospital transfers and reduce pressure during periods of high demand. Facilities and retirement villages are using virtual nursing services, or implementing their own, to provide enhanced care.

As we head into winter, these changes show how virtual care is helping the health system prepare for winter. It is supporting more patients to receive care at home, improving access to services, and ensuring hospital capacity is focused where it is needed most. Led by frontline staff, it is an important part of how we are building the future of the healthcare system, with patients at the centre.

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