Our commitment to our patients
How we ensure quality of care and safety for our patients while respecting privacy and rights.
On this page
Patient safety
Providing safe, effective and efficient health services is our top priority.
We consistently contribute to national programmes focussed on improving the quality and safety of our services - for example, fall prevention.
Learning from adverse events
Although New Zealand has an excellent health care system that provides safe and efficient care to the vast majority of people, adverse health events can still occur.
An adverse event is an event with negative reactions or results that are unintended, unexpected or unplanned (often referred to as 'incidents' or 'reportable events'). In practice, this is usually understood to be an event which results in harm to a patient. Each year, we and other health providers report these events to the Health Quality & Safety Commission.
You can view our reports here, and you can see the NZ Health, Quality & Safety Commissions website for the national report.
Learning from adverse events is crucial to continually improving person-centred, safe and effective delivery of care. In turn, this contributes to achieving our vision of Kia Mohomo Te Hāpori Oranga | Healthy, thriving communities.
Quality of care
Your rights
When you use a health or disability service, you have certain rights. These rights are described in the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights or "the Code".
You have the right to:
- be treated with respect
- be treated fairly
- dignity and independence
- have good care and support that fits your needs
- be told things in a way you understand
- be told everything you need to know about your care and support
- make choices about your care and support
- have support
- decide if you want to be part of training, teaching or research
- make a complaint.
Privacy
Privacy is a priority for our patients and staff. Your physical privacy is respected. Your personal information, including your health records, will remain confidential and will only be used for their intended purpose.
The Privacy Act and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020 control how we collect, use, disclose, store and give access to 'personal information'. If you would like to know more, please visit privacy.org.nz.
Quality Accounts
We are continually looking to improve the quality and safety of our health services. Our annual 'Quality Accounts' provide a snapshot of our key initiatives and how we are performing against targets. View our Quality Accounts.
Send us feedback
Your feedback helps us improve the quality and safety of our health services.
You can provide your feedback in several ways:
- To provide feedback easily, use our patient care feedback form. A printed copy can be found in our hospitals - just ask a staff member.
- While in hospital you can talk about issues with staff or ask to speak to the unit manager. You can also ask to speak with one of our quality and patient safety coordinators, who are available during office hours to discuss any issues with patients and staff.
- If you have had an overnight stay in hospital, you will be emailed a patient experience survey. Further information can be found at hqsc.govt.nz.
- If you require independent support, free services are available from:
- Health Consumer Service - 0800 801 482
- Nationwide Health and Disability Advocacy Service - 0800 555 050
- If you are unhappy with the health or disability service you have received, you can also contact the Health and Disability Commissioner on 0800 11 22 33.