Sharing examples of what great engagement with people using health services and their whānau looks like was one of the highlights of a workshop held in Wellington this month.
On 16 December, we hosted an event aimed at supporting the development and implementation of consumer engagement frameworks across Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) and the Ministry of Health - Manatū Hauora (the Ministry).
It brought together members of Health NZ’s national, regional and district consumer staff, their Patient Safety and Quality team, and members of the regional consumer councils and representatives from the Ministry’s Health System Monitoring, Performance and Governance group.
The workshop focused on the Consumer and Whānau Engagement Quality and Safety Marker (QSM), the code of expectations for health entities’ engagement with consumers and whānau, and the SURE (Supporting, Understanding, Responding and Evaluating) framework.
It provided an opportunity for participants to:
• better understand the code of expectations for health entities’ engagement with consumers and whānau
• clarify purpose and how to use the SURE framework as a planning and improvement tool
• share best practice examples through reporting to the consumer and whānau engagement quality and safety marker (QSM)
Te Ikaroa Central region presented ‘Our Journey with the consumer and whānau engagement QSM’ to demonstrate a best practice example of co-designing the Regional Consumer Council’s terms of reference.
The terms of reference were rewritten by the Council using plain language and framing that emphasises equity and partnership. Key changes driven by consumer input include shifting the language from “operates under” to “partners with,” introducing an explicit equity mandate, and balancing system accountability with community empowerment.
You can access Te Ikaroa Central region’s full QSM submission through the ‘self assessment detail’ page, selecting ‘Central Region’ under the ‘Organisation’ drop down. Access the QSM self assessment results
Feedback from the workshop attendees included that there was a shared understanding of embedding the frameworks and that it highlighted the need to continue these conversations and think about what is next in terms of QSM reporting requirements and confirming a clear direction moving forward.
We would like to thank the Regional Consumer Councils, Health NZ, and the Ministry of Health for their valuable participation and support with the workshop.
We're now planning a webinar for early 2026.
Find out more about the code of expectations
Read about the consumer and whānau engagement quality and safety marker (QSM)
