New Zealand's leading health agencies will explore system-level changes to improve benefits from clinical trials, based on recommendations from an independent research report  ‘Enhancing Aotearoa New Zealand Clinical Trials’.

Funded by Ministry of Health and the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC), the report is developed by diverse team of clinical researchers, advisory and consumer groups. With the aim of strengthening the clinical trials environment, the report shares key component of thriving health research sector and priority of the New Zealand Health Research Strategy.

The report includes a range of recommendations for increasing access to, and participation in, clinical trials, with a focus on reducing inequities and conducting trials that are relevant to Aotearoa New Zealand.

It also proposes a new model for supporting clinical trials, including a national centre for providing leadership, governance, expertise, and high-level coordination of trial activity, as well as multiple regional coordinating centres to support trials at local level.

In response to the report, Health New Zealand and Māori Health Authority are establishing a senior cross-agency working group to consider how the recommendations can be integrated within the health system, with each agency appointing a lead for the work.

The Ministry of Health’s chief science advisor, Dr Ian Town, says that the health sector reforms provide a structural framework to support a smarter, fairer health system, and with this comes an opportunity to significantly enhance clinical research in the public health system.