Covid 19: Ministry of Health criticized for handling Covid-19

A report on the management of tests for Covid-19 in the community and at the border has singled out the Ministry of Health for poor communication around the criteria for testing and for keeping ministers in the dark about the concerns raised. by other government departments.

The report was prepared by the COVID-19 Testing and Surveillance Strategy Advisory Group, co-chaired by Heather Simpson and Sir Brian Roche.

The group was established in August after the breakdown of a Covid-19 community group in Auckland and the discovery that only about 40 percent of staff working at the border and in hotels managed isolation and quarantine had been screened for Covid. -19, despite a government edict for periodic testing.

It was released today, along with a funding announcement of another $ 2.8 billion to maintain Covid-19 border controls and isolation facilities for 14 days until at least June 2022.

The report gave a brutal assessment of the Health Ministry’s control of the Covid-19 response up to the time of the August outbreak in Auckland, pointing to confusing and mixed messages and poor coordination.

The authors of the report said that while the August outbreak had not been caught at the earliest opportunity, it had been quickly brought under control and should be given credit for.

He also noted that many changes were already underway at the time the report was written after the August outbreak.

In testing, it found that the healthcare industry was frustrated by receiving “last minute instructions for changes that they believed did not recognize much of what was already happening on the ground.”

District health boards and public health units were tasked with implementing the testing regimens, but “too often” they received little warning about changes in target numbers.

“Similarly, delays in payments to service providers have increased dissatisfaction with the system and, at times, have led to reluctance to increase testing fees, which has reduced access.

“Facilitating access to evidence must become a regular business, and for this to happen, funding regimes must be stabilized.”

The written communication from the Ministry of Health was “confusing” and did not clearly identify changes in the testing criteria.

This echoes the Auditor General’s report on PPE, which criticized the ministry for its “mixed message.”

The guiding role of the Ministry of Health.

The report said the pandemic meant the lead agency was the Health Ministry, “as it should be.”

However, it found that other government agencies and the private sector reported being excluded from the talks and fought to have their views heard.

“The Ministry of Health is the government’s main advisor, as it is critical that the decisions made as part of the response are firmly based on the best science in public health.”

“At times, however, this seems to have been interpreted to mean that advice should not be influenced by legitimate information or concerns expressed by other quarters.”

Decisions went to Cabinet without ministers being properly informed of the concerns and opinions of officials and stakeholders outside the Ministry of Health.

“It is imperative, with an emergency of this magnitude, that government decision makers are exposed to advice that considers all aspects of the problem. While it is true that the rapidly changing nature of this threat makes broad consultation difficult at times, that The same urgency increases the need for commitment and quality advice.

“Too often, decision-making documents have been sent to the cabinet with little or no real analysis of the options and little evidence of input from outside health or even from different parts of the Ministry of Health or the sector. While this may to have been understandable in the first weeks of the response should not continue eight months on a problem like the one we are currently facing. “

He recommended that all Cabinet documents on Covid-19 be sent to the All Government group.

“This would at least alert ministers to any problems.”

Response from Covid Minister:

Responding to the report, Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins said that many of the improvements the report called for were already in the works before it was produced. Of its 28 recommendations, 25 were the responsibility of the Ministry of Health. Five of the recommendations have been implemented and another 23 are being implemented.

He said New Zealanders should have confidence in the Health Ministry, saying that it had continued to improve its response and that containment of subsequent community outbreaks was the result of that.

The report said it was increasingly clear that Covid-19 will be present in New Zealand for the foreseeable future and its recommendations were based on a time frame potentially of up to 36 months.

The additional funding Hipkins announced today includes $ 1.12 billion for up to 7,000 tests per day, contact tracing and supplies of personal protective equipment. $ 1.74 billion will go to pay for the managed isolation and quarantine system, including accommodation, food and other costs.

Hipkins said the funding announcement and the establishment of a Covid-19 specific oversight team recognized that Covid-19 is likely to be with New Zealand for some time. So far only short-term funding has been allocated

In the report, he said it highlighted areas where things could be done better, but did not want to “skip” what had been achieved.

He said that the highlighted issues with the testing guidelines had been resolved and that the testing regimen was now much stronger.

He did not believe he had given confusing information to the public.

He acknowledged that the contact tracing teams in Auckland were under pressure in August, but had performed well.

He said the Health Ministry has come under more pressure and scrutiny than any other government department this year and has been open to reviews of its performance.

He said that while there have been advances in vaccines and travel ‘bubbles’ with other countries, New Zealand’s phase-out strategy means that it is still important to ensure that the health system can manage strong contact tracing and testing practices.

The government was also refining the management of Covid-19, including creating a Covid-19 response unit to take overall leadership, based in the Prime Minister’s Department and the Cabinet.

The Ministry of Health would be in charge of managing the public health response, while border management would be handled by the Border Executive Board of the executive heads of government departments.

In June, the Cabinet had instructed health officials to periodically test all personnel at the border or in contact with people arriving in New Zealand.

In mid-August, the government decided to make it mandatory after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was clear that routine tests were not being implemented as quickly as desired.

The group was tasked with verifying the effectiveness of testing in the community, at the border, and at managed quarantine and isolation facilities, and making recommendations for improvement.