Time to Reflect & Celebrate: NZ Healthcare Performance & Planning for 2026

As 2025 comes to an end, healthcare organisations across Aotearoa have weathered one of the most demanding periods in recent memory. Between shifting workforce dynamics, increased workload, evolving patient needs, and budget pressures many teams have had to stretch, pivot, and adapt. 

Now is the moment to pause, reflect, and honour what’s been achieved not because everything went perfectly, but because keeping services running under pressure speaks volumes about commitment, resilience, and teamwork. 

Own Performance: What Worked, What We Learned 

Whether you’ve been overseeing rosters, coordinating shifts, supporting staff wellbeing, or ensuring continuity of care with fewer resources every effort has counted. Recent data shows the national unemployment rate rose to 5.3% in the September quarter of 2025.  

In this environment, every retained clinician, every shift covered, every satisfied patient represents a meaningful win. It’s also likely you encountered challenges: staffing bottlenecks, elevated stress, or extended waitlists. Treat those not as failures, but as opportunities to learn, adjust, and plan smarter for 2026. 

Team & Service Delivery: Where Collective Effort Mattered 

The year squeezed many teams between rising demand and limited resources. Yet across Aotearoa, many services managed to stay open, maintain standards, and even innovate. 

That could look like: 

  • smarter rostering or shift coverage. 
  • improved communication and teamwork across departments. 
  • flexible role-sharing or cross-skilling. 
  • staff stepping up during critical times. 

These aren’t just short-term fixes they show your team’s adaptability and value. They deserve recognition and can form the foundation for stronger systems going forward. 

Vision & Strategy: Holding Steady as Everything Changes 

According to the Hays 2025 Skills Report, 85% of hiring managers across Australia and New Zealand report skills gaps that affect organisational performance.  

For NZ healthcare organisations this year, it may have meant reprioritising roles, rethinking workforce planning, or re-evaluating what “right staffing” looks like. 

Now as you reflect it’s a good time to assess whether your vision and operational goals still fit the reality on the ground. What stayed true under pressure? What needs adjusting? Use these insights to shape a more resilient strategy heading into 2026. 

Business & Operational Wins: Even Beyond Staffing 

It wasn’t just staffing where progress was made. Many organisations took steps to stabilise their operations, even in uncertainty. Some of those wins may include: 

  • filling difficult clinical or allied health positions. 
  • stabilising rosters and improving shift coverage. 
  • launching or strengthening wellbeing and support initiatives. 
  • improving internal communication and workflow. 
  • forming new partnerships or expanding services. 
  • improving patient or staff satisfaction, even under pressure. 

These wins don’t always headline but they’re the bedrock of long-term stability. 

Looking Ahead: Building Stability and Purpose in 2026 

As you plan for the new year, consider weaving in these actions: 

  • Set clear, measurable goals for staffing, service delivery, retention, and wellbeing. 
  • Use feedback loops from staff, patients, and partners to monitor what’s working (and what’s not). 
  • Invest in flexible workforce structures and cross-skilling to build adaptability. 
  • Prioritise culture, support, and communication because people stay where they feel seen and valued. 
  • Treat the challenges of 2025 not as baggage, but as lessons, an opportunity to build smarter systems. 

A Note of Appreciation and Hope 

This year demanded a lot of you and your team. Maintaining services, caring for patients, and holding things together during uncertainty that matters. 

Take time to reflect, appreciate what worked, and learn from what didn’t. Use the momentum to shape 2026 with clarity, purpose, and resilience. 

The value of good leadership and compassionate teamwork doesn’t fade, it grows. 

Let’s step into 2026 ready to build on what we achieved together. 

From all of us at Frontline Health New Zealand, we wish you and your teams a safe, restorative festive season and a Happy New Year!