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Education for providers
and the wider health
and disability sectors
The HDC provided education sessions
to staff in general practices, in line with
the requirements of the Cornerstone
accreditation programme. Medico-legal
sessions were presented to a variety of
audiences including as part of a Medical
Law Conference, Health Law Intensive
programme and Elder Law for the Health
Sector Conference. Sessions on the Code
for those studying to become health and
disability services providers continue to
be a regular occurrence in universities and
other training institutions. Practitioners
undertaking post-graduate study, including
medical and nursing practitioners
and health services managers and
administrators, also requested and received
HDC education sessions.
The HDC provides information for the
disability community on its website
through weekly updates, news and
events. The information includes the use
of New Zealand Sign Language, useful
information for Asian, migrant and refugee
communities, and the Maori Disability
Action Plan. Numerous presentations are
made to consumer groups including the
Like Minds Provider Seminar, Wakefi eld
Health GP Conference, New Zealand Home
Health Association Conference, New
Zealand Medical Students’ Association
annual conference, the Auckland Disability
Providers Network, the Health Quality and
Safety Commission inaugural quality forum
and the Ngati Kapo Biennial Conference.
Consumer advisory
group
Consumer Advisors have provided valuable,
thought provoking advice and input during
the year, which the Commissioner and his
staff have been grateful to receive.
The HDC acknowledges the contributions
of founding Consumer Advisory Group
(CAG) member Barbara Robson
(Co-convenor of CAG) as her term
on the group came to an end.
Two meetings were held with HDC’s CAG.
CAG provided advice to the Commissioner
on the planning of the 2nd National
Disability Conference, an information
resource for consumers and providers on
the use of Enduring Powers of Attorney
and Welfare Guardianship, the transition
of new functions in systemic advocacy and
monitoring of mental health and addictions
services, following the disestablishment of
the Mental Health Commission.
CAG also brought a range of issues to the
HDC’s attention, which included:
• Accessible information for medication
around dosage and instructions for
taking medication and instruction on
how to use self-test kits.
• Changes in defi nitions to the Privacy
Information Sharing Bill and the Health
Information Privacy Code and how
proposed changes might impact on
mental health services consumers.
• Regionalisation of maternity services and
its possible impact on the availability of
emergency maternity services.
• Welfare reform and the advantages of
streamlining assessment processes for
supported living payments.
• Complaint processes for consumers
who use a support person under an
individualised funding model.
• The importance of providing culturally
responsive assistance to Pacifi c peoples
caring for family members so the support
needs of both the consumer and the
carer are addressed.
The HDC undertook follow up, where
appropriate, on several of these issues.
HDC ANNUAL REPORT 2012
The HDC’s CAG also provided advice to
the Medical Council of New Zealand on its
Protocol for Decision-making Principles, its
website information for consumers about
conditions for practice and its review of
Good Medical Practice information that
outlines the Council’s core expectations
of doctors.
Educational resources
The You Have Rights booklet was fi rst
produced in 2004 to assist people with
learning disabilities in understanding
their rights in a format that is accessible
to them. The booklet was updated during
2011/12 following feedback from the
disability sector. The revised version of the
booklet was developed in consultation
with the HDC’s CAG and People First New
Zealand. It replaced the photographs with
easy to follow illustrations and includes an
additional section on making a complaint.
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