A YORK healthcare business is exporting its services to New Zealand.

CMA Group (Consulting), based in King Street, which provides management consultancy and business intelligence to the healthcare sector, has won two contracts in New Zealand following a trade visit to the country.

The company was invited to speak at the New Zealand Ministry of Health General Practice Conference in Auckland in September, after which it held an evening reception at the High Commissioner’s Residence in Wellington for health professionals in conjunction with the UKTI.

CMA appointed a business development manager to develop contacts in the country and has already won two contracts.

Carol Limber, a clinician who set up the business in 2003 with husband Mark, who has a background in healthcare IT, has travelled to Christchurch to work with Pegasus Health to help develop processes to reduce visits to the emergency department and hospital admission rates and run them more efficiently.

The business has also been awarded a contract with the General Practice New Zealand, the equivalent of the UK’s Royal College of GPs, to look at integrating secondary and primary healthcare.

Carol said the British and New Zealand health systems were similar in structure, meaning they could apply their knowledge and experience of Britain’s health system and best practice they have learned in New Zealand.

She said: “New Zealand faces very similar issues to the UK with an ageing population, increasing attendances to A&E and rising healthcare costs.

“The recent earthquakes pose an additional challenge to Christchurch and I am looking forward to joining a dynamic team and sharing some of the learning across the UK and NZ healthcare system as we rebuild Canterbury’s healthcare provision.”

The business, which employs ten full-time staff and has a pool of 50 associates that it calls on for individual projects, also expects to expand in the UK, where changes in the NHS will drive the need for its services.