Published on 21 Aug 2025

Transforming Health Training: Developing a National Clinical Placements Model

Projects
3 ANNA 1x1 PORTRAIT 1
Anna Gribble Clinical Guidance Lead Contact me

The Ministry of Health needed a comprehensive clinical placements framework for the proposed Waikato medical school. Throughout this project, our team navigated tight Cabinet deadlines and conflicting stakeholder views. We delivered New Zealand's first clinical placements framework with a data-driven model that optimised locations based on workforce priorities and community needs, with a focus on community-based delivery.

We created a "one source of truth" for clinical placements by consolidating existing knowledge across Health NZ. Our data-driven model provided a national-level view that optimised placements based on workforce priorities and community health needs. Our collaborative approach with Health NZ teams delivered exceptional results under time pressure.

The model we developed provided a future-focused framework that will shape how medical education is delivered across New Zealand, ultimately helping train more doctors where they're needed most.

Meeting a critical need

The Ministry of Health signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Waikato to establish a new medical school as part of the Government's commitment to train more doctors. After we developed the Programme Business Case on behalf of the Ministry of Health, we partnered with Health NZ to deliver critical components for the Detailed Business Case, focusing on a national clinical placements model.

The project faced significant challenges - Health NZ was in the middle of significant change, with limited resources and competing priorities in the medical workforce area. Cabinet deadlines created time pressure and multiple stakeholders held conflicting views about how to manage clinical placements across hospital and community settings.

Our team offered the perfect mix of skills for this work. We brought deep health workforce knowledge from our Programme Business Case work. We understood the complexities of medical training pathways and had mapped clinical placement planning processes. We navigated sector, funding and implementation sensitivities while gathering information from across Health NZ.

Tangled line drawing forming brain shape above hanging lightbulb
Single yellow lightbulb glowing on black cord
Resources Block
Silhouettes of people in meeting room against bright window backdrop
Projects

Windana: Board support and meeting management

Read More
Blue water droplets labeled "PFAS," visualizing persistent chemicals in our water systems and their environmental impact.
Projects

Secretariat and Scientific Support Services for PFAS Expert Health Panel

Read More
Healthcare worker positioning patient for mammogram screening
Projects

Secretariat and Meeting Management services for the National Quality Management Committee of BreastScreen Australia

Read More

Our collaborative approach

  • We held daily stand-up meetings with Health NZ to meet tight timeframes.

  • We worked closely with the Data & Insights team to ensure robust, fit-for-purpose inputs into the location model, including sense-testing and refining the model based on their input.

  • We maintained a 'no surprises' approach, discussing challenges openly.

  • We proactively engaged key stakeholder groups early, including Health NZ teams, the University of Waikato, and existing medical education providers.

Colourful speech bubbles overlapping silhouettes in conversation
Colourful speech bubbles overlapping silhouettes in conversation

Find out how we can help.
Book a Discovery Session

Get clarity on your challenge with our free one-hour discovery session - no obligation, just practical insights on how we can help.

Delivering transformative results

We developed the first comprehensive document outlining clinical placement complexities, challenges and opportunities. This document was expected to enable better decision-making in relation to the proposed medical school and inform future direction on the national clinical placements model.

Our analysis showed how the new medical school would impact existing clinical placements, raising awareness about complexities previously understood only by implementation teams.

As a result, we created a data-driven clinical placements location model that identified optimal locations based on Health NZ's strategic workforce priorities, community health needs and primary care readiness.

This gave Health NZ unprecedented national-level direction for future clinical placements and a strategic view for long-term planning. We also prepared a detailed implementation plan that accounted for the changing health landscape, ensuring effective delivery despite sector changes.

Interconnected coloured pathways forming abstract network diagram
Interconnected coloured pathways forming abstract network diagram