'Supporting independence and quality of life

At Healthcare of New Zealand we pride ourselves on combining the advantages of being a national organisation with the nurturing of local knowledge. We ensure the support our clients receive is of the very best quality as it is based on best practice from around the country, while local knowledge enables us to deliver services tailored to our clients' needs and those of their communities.

Our organisation has grown rapidly from its inception in 1988 and today we employ over 5,000 part- and full-time staff across the country. We provide support to more than 17,000 people living in their own homes, specialist community homes or with family/whānau, making us the one of the largest providers of health and disability support services in New Zealand.

As the health and disability sector places increasing emphasis on people receiving support in their own homes or in community settings, we are continuing to build our capabilities to ensure we can deliver the services required today and in the future.

How we work

The right of clients to be treated with dignity and respect lies at the heart of the way we work. We strive to offer a personalised service sensitive to each person’s lifestyle, experience, cultural values and spiritual beliefs.

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Partnership with Māori

Guided and assisted by our Kaumātua, Arapeta Amai from Tuhoe, we collaborate with iwi, hapū, whānau and Māori organisations wherever possible so that our services are culturally appropriate. To help ensure cultural safety, we have developed a Māori health plan based on the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and led by our Māori Health Manager, Matt Matamua from Tuhoe. This plan is embedded in the organisation and supported throughout by staff training as part of our Awhi te Tangata programme.

We work with Māori at local levels to improve access to services and ensure cultural safety for our clients.

• The Mental Health Programme is working in partnership with Māori and smaller iwi providers. By working together, HealthCare NZ and iwi are improving access for Māori for a range of treatment options and give Māori a choice in the providers available to them.
  
  The Mental Health Programme has partnerships working with Tuwharetoa in Turangi, Te Arawa in Rotorua, Ngati Ranginui in Tauranga, Ngati Raukawa in Tokoroa, Ngai Tahu in Christchurch, Ngati Porou in Gisborne, Ngati Whatua in Auckland, and Ngati Kahungunu in Hawke’s Bay.
  

• Timaru branch manager Donna Coxshall worked with Support Worker Joyce Shore (Upokorehe, Whakatohea) to deliver cultural training for HealthCare NZ Support Workers at their local marae.
  
  Joyce worked with Bruce Wikitoa at Te Aitarakihi Marae in Timaru to put together a training programme. The training supported non-Māori Support Workers to feel confident when working with Māori clients. Staff learnt about the protocol in visiting a Marae and how Māori approach health.

Māori Health Plan
Link to an overview of Healthcare of New Zealand’s Māori Health Plan.

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Partnership with Pacific Peoples

Our ability to work in partnership with other Pacific providers is essential to establish a Pacific person's and their Aiga’s confidence in us as service providers.

The Mental Health & Addictions Service works in partnership with existing Pacific mental health and health providers to give Pacific people treatment options and choice for themselves and their family.

The General Manager, Mental Health & Addictions Service is of Samoan descent and has relationships with Pacific providers.

• Auckland
  Faleola, Pacificare, Lotofale, Pasefika Fono and TaPasefika Health Trust.
• Hamilton
  Kaute Pasefika and Pasefika Addiction Services
• Wellington
  Taeaomanino and PATCH.
• Christchurch
  Pacific Health Trust.
  
  

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Quality assurance

Ensuring our services meet the needs of the people who use them and that they are of the highest possible quality is critical to our success and that of our partners.

We are the first national provider of home support and disability support services to achieve Standards New Zealand Certification against sector standard NZS8158 for all our Community Services branches and NZS8134 for all our NZCare Group facilities. We constantly strive to maintain or exceed these standards and all our services are subject to a rigorous internal audit process to ensure that we achieve quality improvement.

Standards New Zealand

External link to the Standards New Zealand website.

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A developing workforce

We have a learning and development programme across the organisation called the Learning Journey. All staff are provided with training and have opportunities to enhance existing or develop new skills, particularly where there is a job requirement.

We work closely with sector training bodies to improve opportunities for, and access to, training for health and disability workers.

The Learning Journery
Link to an overview of Healthcare of New Zealand’s learning and development programme.

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Technology

We're building our technological capabilities to provide better, more efficient and more effective services to our clients and our partners. We use versatile client management systems to coordinate our services more effectively, which also provide meaningful reports to enhance our monitoring capabilities. We are focused on using technology in the future to allow us to spend more time supporting clients and less time on paperwork.

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