A health report released recently had not proposed "enormous reforms" in the health sector as some people in the industry suggest, Dunedin lawyer John Anderson says.
Mr Anderson is chairman of the Crown Health Funding Agency, which the Ministerial Review Group report suggested could become a national health board to monitor the country's 21 district health boards.
At present, the agency provides advice and financial services to district health boards, such as lending or helping with buying or selling property.
Mr Anderson said the main thrust of the report seemed to be on "refocusing" the Ministry of Health, to remove some of its oversight of the district health boards and pare it back to its core policy-type role.
"Clearly, the intention is to let the district health boards get on with what they do, with a few tweaks here and there.
I don't think delivery of health services is going to be affected.
I think, if anything, they will improve."
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Ian Powell has previously described the report as proposing "radical restructuring" and New Zealand Nurses Organisation chief executive Geoff Annals said the proposals amounted to a "substantial restructure".
He questioned the need for new bodies such as a national health board.
Mr Anderson said any report that provoked debate was a good report and was "obviously raising the right questions".
The review group had consulted widely.
The need for changes stemmed from the unsustainable growth in health funding over the past few years, he said.
A report from the agency in July said New Zealand's health spending had grown 30% faster than the growth in national income.
Mr Anderson said that, if adopted, the proposals contained in the report would help build co-operation between boards, such as that happening between Otago and Southland, where the two boards share some management staff.
Proposals to centralise some services, such as a national payroll office or shared information technology systems, could help avoid duplication that occurred 21 times across the country.
Other issues raised in the report included the significant growth in capital spending.
Future funding would be much smaller and capital spending needed a national overview and prioritisation, he said.
Health Minister Tony Ryall has previously said Cabinet is under no obligation to accept any of the proposals.
