The Hawke's Bay District Health Board has achieved all but one of its national health targets, its fourth quarter results show.
From April to June this year, this included hitting its Raising Health Kids target for the first time, and good progress had also been made by Health Hawke's Bay on meeting the better help for smokers target, said acting chief executive Sharon Mason.
"This is a significant achievement, and its success impacts significantly on the future health of our community - the less people smoke, the better people's health outcomes are."
She said she was also delighted to meet the targets for access to elective surgery and shorter stays in the Emergency Department, and that the DHB had achieved high immunisation rates.
"Again our immunisation teams are among the best in the country with 95 per cent of 8-month-old children having all three of their immunisations."
The DHB was, however, short of meeting the 82 per cent faster cancer treatment target, reaching 77 per cent of people having their first cancer treatment within 62 days of being referred with a high suspicion of cancer, and a need to be seen within two weeks.
Improvements had been made, however, Mrs Mason said.
"We were at the bottom of the table for cancer treatment, and we are now sitting about 15th.
"It's a slow improvement, and we know the systems are there to sustain it."
She thanked the DHB staff for their hard work and commitment that had made the results possible.
Health Minister Jonathan Coleman said the latest health target results showed that Hawke's Bay DHB was making good progress.
"I'd like to acknowledge all the health professionals in Hawke's Bay for their continued hard work to improve key health services for New Zealanders."
The results were supported by the $139 million funding increase Hawke's Bay DHB had received over the last nine years, he said.
Hawke's Bay DHB received an extra $25m in new money this year, taking the DHB's total funding to $527m for 2017/18.
Have your say
Meanwhile, the Hawke's Bay DHB was seeking feedback on its services in a bid to deliver better care and shape the future of health services in the region.
"The Big Listen" project was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear from consumers and staff about how the DHB was performing, where it was doing well, and where it could do better, said Mrs Mason.
"It's a great investment for this organisation to look at the long term and how we can be the best we can be as both a service and a workplace.
"It's about values and behaviour and asking the questions that will help to design a future-proofed system with the very best levels of care, location and service in mind."
She invited the community to get involved by filling out online and hard copy surveys asking what people's experience of the hospital had been like and what improvements could be made.
"This type of planning opportunity doesn't come around very often so we encourage people to actively have their say."
For more information about the survey go to www.ourhealthhb.nz