Trauma care in New Zealand: it's time to move ahead.

The quality of trauma care in New Zealand is good, but not optimal; it is characterized by skilled and dedicated staff relying on personal knowledge and institutional guidelines to deliver care. Quality assessment, standardization, and coordination of care continue to be hampered by the absence of a national trauma registry within the framework of a national trauma system. There is some hope that a planned regional pilot of the national trauma database will lead to more robust trauma system development, although this will only be achievable with solid governmental support.