About us
Learn more about who we are.
Who we are
Our whakapapa
Homecare Medical – or HML as it was then - began in 1994 as the after-hours nurse triage division of Auckland PHO (primary health organisation) ProCare Health.
- HML nurses supported general practices around Aotearoa, supporting their patients when they called after hours.
- We still do that today and have contracts with around 60% of general practices across the motu.
HML became Homecare Medical in 2014.
In early 2014 ProCare Health in Auckland and Canterbury PHO Pegasus Health, formed a partnership and acquired ownership of Homecare Medical (NZ) Limited Partnership.
In June 2015, after a two-year competitive dialogue procurement process, Homecare Medical was announced as the Ministry of Health’s partner (now Te Whatu Ora) to develop and deliver a new, enhanced, integrated, national telehealth service for Aotearoa.
The National Telehealth Service (NTS) went live just 15 weeks later on 1 November 2015.
- The initial 6 services on the NTS platform were Healthline, Quitline, the Alcohol Drug Helpline, the Gambling Helpline, the Depression Helpline and the Journal, and the Lowdown.
- These services had previously been provided by several organisations.
- It included partnership with the National Poisons Centre to provide poisons advice, and with PlunketLine using the platform, and immunisation advice (working with The Immunisation Advisory Centre (IMAC)), and St John and Wellington free providing non urgent support.
The NTS contract is for 10 years.
Since November 2015 we have worked with other government agencies (MSD, Dept of Corrections, NZ Defence Force) to provide additional services – and now run over 35 services.
We have launched the national sexual harm helpline Safe to talk, the Puāwaitanga counselling service, and we now manage the cervical and bowel national screening coordination centres, and key family violence services.
More recently we supported the Government’s COVID response by establishing the COVID Healthline, the COVID Vaccination Healthline, the COVID Welfare services, and the Disability Helpline.
Our purpose
Everyone at Whakarongorau is here for the same reason – to give everyone in Aotearoa the opportunity for wellness. We have been here for the people of Aotearoa every day, and through national crises such as the Christchurch terror attacks, the COVID pandemic, and natural disasters as well as annual flu seasons and public health events.
Our 12 clinical teams focus on the connected world of digital care, where we can help join all the dots, and select the right services, advice, support and help for the right need.
We use our healthy imagination to solve big problems by understanding the tiny ways that people are blocked from getting the care they deserve. Our imagination comes from our people and our partners and their drive to never give up.
Our teams are listening to New Zealanders’ healthcare concerns and questions – from Kaitaia to Bluff, across the motu – every day.
Our focus is firmly on Māori, Pasifika, and the Disability communities.
Our kaimahi
The services we run are supported by 12 clinical teams of registered nurses, mental health nurses, psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, counsellors, doctors, paramedics, poisons officers, health advisors, family and sexual harm professionals, and emergency triage nurses.
As at September 2023 around 600 staff are working from our contact centres in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch and from their home offices across Aotearoa.
We also partner with iwi and Māori-owned organisations in Kaikohe, Heretaunga, and Rotorua – around 240 whānau.
The mahi that matters
In the 12 months to 30 June 2023 the Whakarongorau team connected with nearly 1.6 million individual people (1 in 3 people in Aotearoa).
We responded to over 2.2 million contacts. We answered 95% of all calls within 10 minutes.
The Whakarongorau Aotearoa model is that every door is the right door - people will get support for their COVID, mental health, health, vaccination, or addictions advice questions, no matter which number they call.
The importance and impact of by Māori, for Māori and providing whānau-centred, equitable telehealth services
To manage the COVID response in October 20220 the first Māori partner Contact Centre was established with Te Hau Ora Ngāpuhi and Whakarongorau - to establish a content centre and workforce to deliver COVID support, in particular encouraging vaccination for Māori.
The success of that partnering and the impact on our collective tāngata whaiora, was a catalyst to initiate further partnerships – with Te Tai Whenua o Heretaunga and Te Arawa Lakes Trust.
We worked collaboratively – using the National Telehealth Service platform and a whānau-centred approach - to create an enhanced Māori whānau experience. Following cultural training of staff and recruitment of Māori staff, this gave a caller to the COVID Healthline or COVID Vaccination Healthline, the option to speak to a Māori advisor.
Te Hau Ora O Ngāpuhi, Te Arawa Lakes, Ngāti Whātua, Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga, and Māori advisors at Whakarongorau Aotearoa led the delivery of these pathways. The pathways involved redesigned call guidelines that are more culturally appropriate and prioritise Whakawhanaungatanga and empowering Māori advisors to be themselves and build trust.
These pathways are now in Healthline and Quitline and the Disability Helpline.
This mahi and partnership – Taki-o-Autahi - was formalised at a significant and moving event at Waitangi in August 2022 hosted by mana whenua Te Hau Ora Ngāpuhi.
A KPMG report (Mā te Kotahitanga ka ora ai te iwi - Partnering for impact - here) assessing the partnership impact, highlighted key positive social and financial impacts in regions that experience high levels of unemployment and health inequity.
Māwhero, māpangoka orāi te iwi / By working together, the health of all people will be achieved
We achieve what we do through partnerships with other care and information providers, community and sector organisations, and with iwi, Māori, and Pasifika partners who have local connections, and meet local community and cultural needs.
We are committed to enabling and supporting Māori and Pacific Peoples to deliver health outcomes for their whānau.
Our organisation is culturally diverse, and equity focussed which helps us to be better clinicians and advisors when we interact with tāngata whaiora / service users. We offer world-class training and career pathways to build an inclusive future workforce.
We partner with communities around Aotearoa to provide services, jobs for people in those communities, and remote working opportunities.
Funding
The services we run are co-funded by Te Whatu Ora / Health New Zealand (in partnership with Te Aka Whai Ora / The Māori Health Authority), the Ministry of Social Development, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), and the Department of Corrections.
Whakarongorau Aotearoa is owned by primary health organisations, ProCare and Pegasus Health.
Our name and our brand
In early 2021 we changed our name from Homecare Medical to Whakarongorau Aotearoa. Whakarongorau is a word to describe the many ways to listen - whakarongo (to listen) and ā-rongorau (a modern word for multimedia, the many ways of communication or media).
It is derived from the old Māori word whakarongorua (to listen with great intent and purpose). The English version of that name is New Zealand Telehealth Services.
The new name was developed with input from our staff and with appropriate guidance from our advisors, including iwi and Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori // Māori Language Commission. The logo design was created by contemporary Māori artist Wayne Youle, Wayne’s design of the icon in our logo was inspired by the whakatauki He reo mārohirohi ka taringa rongohia // A brave voice deserves a sympathetic ear.
Listen below for a demonstration on the pronunciation of our new name:
Ngakau nui ki te pai ake // our passion for better
Our systems are certified to the ISO 9001 standard, which demonstrates our commitment to quality, productivity, and customer satisfaction.
Whakarongorau Aotearoa is connected to a global network of similar organisations. We share and receive ideas, best practice approaches and resources internationally, regularly.
Our Government-funded services are governed by the Whakarongorau Aotearoa Board, a Service Improvement Board and overseen by an independent clinical governance committee. Reporting is provided weekly, monthly, and quarterly, with a formal quarterly review of the services provided to funders.