How we can partner with you

We are focused on developing services and new initiatives that reach and enhance the mana and well-being of our priority populations. Collaborating to solve local and community challenges in ways that are scalable and shared nationwide is what motivates us.
We have a suite of tools that we can use to help your idea or organisation. Our systems are designed to be scalable and join up our capability, technologies and innovative solutions across the physical and mental health sectors.
We are continuously improving our approach and services to better meet the changing needs of the New Zealand health landscape and integrating cultural diversity to provide more equitable services.

Our partnership approach

As a key player in the broader health and social system, our key objectives guide everything we do:

• be a trusted part of the health care system that offers a confidential, reliable and consistent source of advice on health care in order to enable consumers to manage their health care in an appropriate manner.
• facilitate the right person delivering the right care at the right time and at the right place.
• increase cost-effectiveness in the health care sector and reduce demand on other health services.
• have the flexibility to adapt and develop over time to meet the changing needs of users and technology.

Leverage our expertise

We leverage our expert clinicians, Māori and Pacific experts, technical experts, digital and media team, co-designers and our other partners to share problems and look at new ways of solving them. Together we can find a solution.

• Our expert clinicians and advisors come from a wide variety of backgrounds and experience. Eight clinical teams work around the clock to provide people with the best quality telehealth advice and care, delivered by registered nurses, mental health nurses, psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, counsellors, doctors, paramedics, poisons officers, health advisors, sexual harm professionals, and emergency triage nurses.
• Our technology and systems are set up and ready to provide your services. People can contact our helplines 24/7, 365 days a year by telephone, text, website, web chat, email or Facebook, ensuring that your clients can talk to a real person and get the right care, at the right time, by the right person, in the right place.
  Our systems are also integrated into the wider health system (NHI look-up, consult summary to general practice, shared records, etc).
• Our service users and online community are the centre of everything we do from the co-design approach to service feedback enabling us to continuously improve and develop new innovative services.
• Our equity focus has seen our services reaching 19% of Māori and 6% of Pasifika peoples (compared with 14% and 6% respectively of the general population - 2013 Census), making us well placed, experienced and dedicated to improving physical, mental and social health across these equity groups.
  Embracing cultural diversity or ‘whāngai’ is part of our DNA. Our business activities are equity-led, many of our services can be provided in many different languages and we work collaboratively across the health ecosystem to improve access, choice and health outcomes for Māori, Pacific people, and people living in disadvantaged communities.

Examples of solving problems in the health and social sectors

Supporting primary care

• Working with general practices to deliver after hour services through our Health team, develop automated telephone messaging to divert non-clinical calls to other channels and support moving practices to electronic roster systems.
• Sending secure electronic summaries to GP or referral with themes, outcomes and recomendations, for both phyical and mental health contacts.
• Reducing primary care mental health wait times through offering telephone and web-enabled counselling services (Puāwaitanga) to primary care, iwi, tertiary educations and beneficiaries through Ministry of Social Development.

Regional and nationwide response

• Responding to surges in the health system - our national reach and range of expertise saw 100 additional staff activated to respond to calls within 60 minutes after the Christchurch attack
• Our digital team can geotarget health messages to meet a specific community need (e.g. suicide clusters on the West Coast) or regional events (e.g. support through the Kaikoura earthquake) Delivering mental health crisis, brief intervention and online moderation capacity and capability to multiple District Health Boards
• Implemented a DHB mental health Peer Support pilot
• In partnership with the Ministry of Social Development, a nationwide Safe to Talk service was established to provide a 24/7 access, specialist capability and consistent messaging and information for anyone impacted by sexual harm.

Redirecting emergency services

• Our Emergency Triage nursing team work side-by-side with St John and Wellington Free Ambulances to redirect non-emergency calls into 111, reducing the number of ambulances sent to non-emergency calls
• Established a new Police drug referral service within six weeks, following an amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act, enabling Police a non-judicial option for people in possession of Class A drugs for personal use
• Earlier Mental Health Response (EMHR) for Police and Ambulance provides faster and more appropriate help to people in social and psychological distress who call 111.

Interested?

Want to know more about how Whakarongorau can bring your service digital? Get the ball rolling and contact us at feedback@whakarongorau.nz