National Palliative Care Work Programme

We're working to ensure palliative and end-of-life care meets the needs of all New Zealanders and their whānau.

Overview - national palliative care work programme from July 2023

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora holds responsibility for developing a palliative care work programme. The purpose of this programme is to support a nationally consistent approach to palliative and end-of-life care planning, funding, service delivery and outcomes.

This includes responding to the action in Te Pae Tata - Interim New Zealand Health Plan 2022 to develop a nationally consistent model for paediatric and adult palliative and end-of-life care that is integrated across primary and community health and strengthens the equitable provision of palliative care across Aotearoa (pg 63).

Health NZ is committed to working in partnership with Government agencies, providers of palliative care services (primary and specialist), consumers, and communities to ensure palliative and end-of-life care meets the needs of all New Zealanders and their whānau. Work will be informed by cross-agency and cross-sector input, national and international evidence, the lived experiences of people with palliative care needs and their whānau, and the priorities identified by communities.

Steering group

A national palliative care Steering Group was established in August 2023. This group of leaders will provide oversight and guidance for the national work programme over a 2 year period. The Steering Group will also establish and oversee the various short-term working groups required.

Working in partnership with whānau and communities, the initial focus of the Steering Group will be overseeing the following key deliverables:

providing recommendations on achieving equitable access to, and outcomes from, palliative care services for all New Zealanders
identifying and recommending core palliative care services that will be publicly funded
developing a national model for paediatric and adult palliative care
proposing national adult specialist palliative care service specifications and costings
providing recommendations to sustain a clinically and culturally competent, diverse workforce that represents the community it is serving and meets service demands
developing a national outcomes and reporting framework.

The Steering Group members appointed through an Expression of Interest process are:

Amanda Landers, Emma Hedgecock, Fraser Watson, Georgina Johnson, Kim Fuller, Margaret Tuala, Maryellen Mitchell, Ross Drake (resigned Feb 2024), Sara Simmons, Tess Huia Moeke-Maxwell, Vanessa Eldridge, Verbena Harawira, Warrick Jones, Wayne Naylor.

Further information about the Steering Group can be found in the Terms of Reference and member biographies below.

Working groups

To achieve their deliverables, the Steering Group will establish and oversee 6 short-term working groups between September 2023 and June 2025. These working groups will each have a specific focus, and most will run for approximately 6 months. The proposed working groups are:

Equity (Feb 2024 – June 2025 approx.) see deliverable 1 above.
Models of care – paediatric (Dec 2023 –June 2024 approx.) see deliverables 2 and 3 above.
Models of care – adult (May 2024 – Nov 2024 approx.) see deliverables 2 and 3 above.
Contracting and funding (mid 2024 – late 2024 approx.) see deliverable 4 above.
Workforce (late 2024 – early 2025 approx.) see deliverable 5 above.
Measures and reporting (late 2024 – early 2025 approx.) see deliverable 6 above.

Working group members will be appointed by the Steering Group following an Expression of Interest (EOI) process for each working group.

Further information about working group EOI processes and Terms of Reference will be added below as each of the groups are established.

 1. Models of care – paediatric working group

This working group was established in Dec 2023 in collaboration with the Paediatric Palliative Care Clinical Network to:

review previous guidance and identify a national model for paediatric palliative care that is whānau centred and meets the needs of children, adolescents, young people, and their whānau in Aotearoa
provide recommendations on achieving equitable access to, and outcomes from, paediatric palliative care services for children, adolescents, young people, and their whānau in Aotearoa
recommend core paediatric palliative care services that will be publicly funded
propose a national model of paediatric palliative care for Aotearoa, including a funding model and implementation plan.

The working group members appointed through an Expression of Interest process are:

Amanda Evans, Amanda Lyver, Amy Hinder, Callum Gately, Cynthia Ward, Davina Collins, Emily Chang, Gemma Aburn, Jay Marlow, Jo Truscott, Kirimoana Pook, Michelle Wood, Nicole Coupe, Turid Heiler.

2. Equity working group

This working group was established in Feb 2024 and will ensure that the national palliative care work programme keeps equity front and centre. They will identify unwarranted variation, inequitable access to, and outcomes from, palliative care services and provide recommendations on achieving equitable access for all New Zealanders and their whānau.

The working group members appointed through an Expression of Interest process are:

Amy Henry, Christina Bowen, Diane Perenara, Jackie Robinson, Jesse Davis, Jonathon Hagger, Lyneta Russell, Lea Galvin, Perminder Kaur, Richard Eagan, Sally-Anne Mason, Samuel Cho.

3. Models of care – adult working group 

Update June 2024

This group was established in June 2024 to review how adult palliative care services and systems work together in Aotearoa. They will recommend core adult palliative care services and develop a national model and implementation plan for adult palliative care.
The working group members appointed through an Expression of Interest process are:
Anna Blackwell, Connie Watts Williams, Evelyn Gerrish, Hinetewai, Kate Grundy, Louisa Ingham, Salina Iupati, Sue Tutty.

Other ways to participate in this mahi

Survey of palliative care services and change priorities.
Thank you to everyone who filled in our national survey during April and May 2024. We received over 1000 responses! Our Working Group will analyse these and share the general themes of what people have told us on this website from July 2024.
Webinar update. The Models of Care – Adult Working Group members will present an online webinar to discuss their progress and seek input from the public and health sector on their proposed recommendations. This event is likely to be held later in 2024.

Consultation on the recommendations for change. Once the Models of Care – Adult Working Group has submitted their recommendations to the Steering Group, a public and targeted consultation process on the recommendations will follow. This process is likely to start in late 2024/early 2025 and will include online presentations, face-to-face meetings, and an online feedback form.
Updates on progress. For those wanting to keep up to date with this work, regular progress updates will be available here on our website and emailed to those on our stakeholder list.

Contact

If you would like to contact the Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora palliative care team or join our stakeholder list to receive email updates on our national palliative care work programme, email us.