Health Minister Jonathan Coleman has met with providers of the second tranche of Mobility Action Teams at a workshop in Wellington.

'Musculoskeletal conditions like arthritis can have a significant impact on people's health and quality of life. The total cost of people living with arthritis in New Zealand was estimated at $3.2 billion in 2010,” says Dr Coleman.

'We invested $6 million in Budget 2015 to implement a range of community based early intervention teams for musculoskeletal conditions. These teams are part of our wider response to the increased demand for surgery.

'While Kiwis are living longer, many are dealing with more complex long term conditions. The Government is focused on delivering more specialist appointments and elective surgeries, and also intervening at an earlier stage.

'The new Health Strategy sets the direction for a more integrated and patient-centred system with more services delivered in the community, and a greater focus on prevention and self-management.”

Ten Mobility Action Teams from across the country have been selected from over 30 proposals as part of the second tranche of the programme which focuses on self-management, education, exercise, and pain-management.

Around 3,200 people over the next three years are expected to benefit from the programmes which will be tailored to meet each local community's needs.

Once final contracting has been successfully completed, the ten teams will be up and running over the next six months. The teams selected are both public and private providers.

The teams will work with a range of community health services including GPs, dieticians, and physiotherapists. There will also be referrals to hospital services if required.

The first group of seven providers are underway with their programmes. Around 200 people to date are benefiting from these programmes, and this is expected to increase to a total of 2,700 people over the next three years.

These teams are based across the country in Northland, Counties Manukau, Tauranga, Hutt Valley/MidCentral, Canterbury and South Canterbury.

SOURCE: Office of Jonathan Coleman