Home / The Plan / History of the Plan 2015-2020 / Consumer Focus
The needs, expectations and goals of the consumer and their family and whānau are central – a strength-based approach. They have the right to culturally appropriate effective services, and to be informed of choices and participate in decision-making about their support and/or treatment. Population data is used to identify health trends.
The progress specific to the three actions supporting Outcome 1: Needs and the Consumer Focus Principles supporting the whole of the Kaiāwhina Workforce Action Plan has seen some significant shifts and remain in progress at 30 June 2020.
Expectations that consumers, family and whānau will be welcomed partners in health care decisions pertaining to them, and that their voices will be heard, have been increasing over the past two decades. This right to being involved throughout a person’s health journey or when providing support to enable good lives, is supported as an essential part of service delivery through the Code of Rights for those receiving services. This is further enhanced by the expectation that the contribution of consumers, family and whānau will be sought, respectfully listened to and then every effort made to incorporate changes so as to be responsive to the needs of service users.
The processes that enable mana whenua, consumers, family and whānau to engage with, and participate in, service design, planning and delivery continues to mature. During 2018 and 2019, Māori provided extensive feedback and advice to Government agencies on the WAI 2575 Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry; the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction – He Ara Oranga; the New Zealand Health and Disability Systems Review; and the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy. The involvement and engagement with Māori communities in the development of the Ministry of Health’s Maori Health Action Plan; the Māori Disability Action Plan and the Whānau Ora Review are further indications of early engagement in key strategic documents and policies. While these are positive developments it is accepted that much more needs to be done to engage with Māori, Pacific peoples, migrant communities and those living with disability and remotely to see improved equity and health outcomes for all.
Progress in providing more real-time and relevant feedback opportunities on the services received from consumers, family and whānau is also gaining momentum. There are now ‘point in time’ surveys that are informing continuous improvement in the health and disability sector. However these are still in the infancy and as technology continues to evolve, it is anticipated that access to tools and applications that enable the provision of real-time consumer, family and whānau feedback will increase rapidly, be more readily available and instituted by organisations as an essential part of how they connect with and are responsive to their service users and community.
The above two Domain Outcome descriptors continue to be in progress and while they do not have specific actions to support their progress, they are underpinned by five Consumer Focus Principles recognising the importance of consumer focus in the delivery of services and supports:
There is still considerable work to be done to have a system in place that best meets service user needs; has a quality improvement cycle that continuously reviews and improves in a way that is consumer, family and whānau focused; enhances transparency and accountability for consumer, family and whānau health care experiences
This aligns with the Kaiawhina Taskforce 2020-25 Priority 1: Building cultural capability; Priority 3: Accelerating new ways of working and eco-system thinking
The five Consumer Focus Principles which underpinned the Plan during 2015-2020 continue to be relevant into the future. It is essential that the whole system works together to ensure consumers, families and whānau have a voice and that safe, effective and responsive services are provided. There will be an emphasis on improving equity and health outcomes for Māori, Pacific peoples, migrant and rural populations and those living with disability. To achieve the necessary improvements in outcomes for these groups people need to be involved in designing services and to have an opportunity to say whether the services provided were appropriate for, and acceptable to, those who use them.
This aligns with the Kaiawhina Taskforce 2020-25 Priority 1: Building cultural capability; Priority 3: Accelerating new ways of working and eco-system thinking.
