WOVEN (formerly the Health Consumer Advisory Service HCAS) partners with creators of health services, initiatives and resources to ensure better outcomes for all New Zealanders using the health system.
About us
WOVEN was established in 2015 by the Ministry of Health and is run by Health Navigator Charitable Trust to increase inclusion of tangata whaiora in the design, planning and development of health services in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Advisors draw on their skills and lived experience to provide input to task forces, reviews and advisory groups of government departments, public sector health agencies and private healthcare providers.
We do this to make sure health services, systems and supports are fit for purpose for all Kiwis, especially those who live with disability and or long-term health conditions.
Improving your service with Health Consumer Advisors
(Health Navigator NZ, 2020)
WOVEN members provide a consumer perspective to:
- Ministry of Health teams
- other government departments engaged in health service delivery
- non-government organisations
- publicly funded agencies engaged in health services
- private and other healthcare providers.
Services
WOVEN services may include:
- participation as members of local, regional and national steering groups, particularly groups set up to review or redesign various services
- provision of feedback on potential tools and services
- input at workshops etc to help co-create future services or resources
- testing of ideas with their own peers and networks
- delivery of workshops about consumer advocacy and working with consumers/tangata whaiora
- other forms of feedback and engagement.
Assignments
Some examples of WOVEN assignments:
- Ministry of Health Hepatitis C project team.
- Interventional Cardiac Registry governance group.
- NZ Cardiac Surgery Registry governance group.
- CVD, diabetes and long-term conditions self-management workshops.
- Technology in General Practice workshop.
- Pharmacy Action Plan.
- Ministry of Health CVD, Diabetes and Long Term Conditions advisory group.
- Health Care Homes National Collaborative.
- Critical Care Services Planning Programme.
- healthAlliance regional IT infrastructure.
- Kaiawhina Workforce Taskforce.
- DHMAS app reviews.
- Medical student lectures.
- Palliative Care Advisory Panel EAG.
Assignments are generally undertaken face-to-face but have more recently been carried out through Zoom and Teams.
Coordination
The contract to manage and coordinate the work of WOVEN is held by the Health Navigator Charitable Trust, which reports to the Ministry of Health. The trust has a strong interest in the prevention and management of long-term health conditions and in co-creation, where services are designed from the outset with tangata whaiora and communities to improve fit, relevance and benefit.
Contact us
Organisations or groups interested to know more about the service are welcome to contact WOVEN manager Susie Hill by emailing susie@healthnavigator.org.nz
- Service coordinator: Gary Sutcliffe
- Service manager: Susie Hill
- Clinical director & sponsor: Dr Janine Bycroft
Client agency request form
You can also fill in the client request form here.