What are PHOs?

Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) are local structures set up by the Ministry of Health to coordinate the delivery of primary care services (community-based care) to local populations.

Their roles are to:

• provide care and treatment when people are ill
• help people stay healthy
• ensure care reaches those people in the community with poor health, and who are missing out on health care

PHOs bring together the entire range of health professionals who are involved in providing community health care, to make sure everyone in the community is able to access whatever aspect of care they need as quickly and easily as possible.

As well as doctors and nurses, this includes:

• Maori health workers
• health promotion workers
• dietitians
• pharmacists
• physiotherapists
• psychologists and
• midwives
• other health professionals

Funding

PHOs are not-for-profit organisations funded by government through local District Health Boards (DHBs).

The level of funding is based on the numbers of people enrolled with the PHO, and the characteristics of the local population (eg age, sex, ethnicity and deprivation).

Funding allows PHOs to:

• subsidise doctor’s visits
• reduce prescription costs
• run health promotion programmes
• develop innovative ways of improving the uptake of services to reduce health inequalities in their populations

More detailed information on the structure and funding of PHOs can be found on the Ministry of Health website.