Budget 2026 – ProCare welcomes Government’s cyber security investment

ProCare welcomes the Government’s $153.6m investment in strengthening cyber security across New Zealand’s health system, recognising its importance in protecting patient information and maintaining continuity of care.

“Cyber security is fundamental to trust in primary care from both a practice and patient perspective,” says Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at ProCare. “General practice teams handle highly sensitive information every day, so stronger protections are essential.”

The investment is timely, following recent sector incidents such as the Manage My Health breach, which highlighted the growing risks facing providers and patients.

ProCare supports the focus on improving oversight of third-party systems and establishing more consistent standards across primary care.

“Primary care relies on a wide ecosystem of digital tools. Stronger safeguards, clearer accountability, and closer collaboration with Health New Zealand will help reduce risk and build system-wide confidence.

“It’s imperative that Health NZ takes a lead role on this work, thereby allowing general practices to get on with the business of caring for their patients, rather than becoming security experts,” continues Norwell.

“Furthermore, we are conscious that there are changes coming to the cyber security requirements as part of contingent capitation. While we recognise these are important to protect patient data, we need to ensure they are not cumbersome for practices to implement and maintain on a regular basis,” says Norwell.

The emphasis on practical measures such as 24/7 monitoring, specialist capability and regular audits is also welcomed.

“These investments will make a real difference in supporting practices to prevent incidents, respond quickly, and maintain safe, uninterrupted care – while reducing the technical burden on clinicians so they can focus on patients,” concludes Norwell.

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