Mapping allied health activity after major trauma

This project looks at how hospital allied health services support people after a serious injury and how early rehabilitation may help recovery. It uses information that has already been collected through normal health care and injury support processes.

Some of this information comes from existing health datasets where individual consent is not required. The use of this information is permitted under health and privacy law and is carefully managed to support health system planning, service improvement, and more equitable care across New Zealand.

We are sharing this information so people can understand:

• what information is used in this project
• why it is used
• how privacy and confidentiality are protected
• who to contact if they have questions or concerns

No decisions about an individual’s treatment or ACC entitlements are made as part of this project.

Hospital allied health staff are trained health workers who are not doctors, nurses, or dentists. They play an important role in helping patients recover by providing rehabilitation after serious injury. 

In New Zealand, there is limited information about how often allied health support is provided or how this support may affect recovery, making it hard to ensure that care is consistent, effective and equitable. 

This project aims to:

• understand whether all New Zealanders receive timely rehabilitation
• assess how health resources are being used
• understand whether best practice models of care are being delivered
• where possible, understand how allied health support relates to patient recovery.

The insights from this work will support:

• mana-enhancing care pathways
• fair and equitable access to rehabilitation services
• culturally safe interventions. 

Depending on the results, the project team may make future recommendations that include kaupapa Māori strategies and inform Māori-led service design and policy advocacy. 

This project is a collaboration between Health New Zealand I Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) National Clinical Network for Trauma, the Commission, and Health NZ’s Allied Health Safe Staffing Healthy Workplaces team. 

The project links major trauma data from two hospitals and allied health activity data from six allied health groups:

• physiotherapists
• social workers
• occupational therapists
• speech and language therapists
• dietitians
• therapy assistants. 

Patient records will be linked from the New Zealand Trauma Registry (NZTR) with existing allied health activity data. This combined dataset will then be matched with the Health NZ National Minimum Dataset and ACC payment data to assess the impact on patient outcomes. 

New Zealand Trauma Registry (NZTR) 

This is a database that collects information about patients with very serious injuries (Injury Severity Score over 12). Data is stored in New Zealand on the Dendrite platform. 

More information is available at  New Zealand Trauma Registry | Health Professionals

Allied health activity data 

This data comes from patient clinical notes and is stored in Health NZ’s secure data systems. Patients can request access through normal hospital processes. 

ACC claims data 

Information from ACC payment claims is stored in ACC’s secure systems.

National Minimum Dataset (NMDS) 

Is a national collection of public and private hospital discharge information, including clinical information, for same day and multi day inpatients.

All of the datasets used in this project operate under the Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020.  
These laws allow health information to be used without individual consent for purposes such as:

• health system planning
• service evaluation and improvement
• improving health outcomes.

This is allowed only where appropriate safeguards are in place to protect privacy and confidentiality. 

Protecting people’s information is a priority.

For this project:

• The linked dataset is stored securely in New Zealand on the Commission’s protected network drive.
• Access is limited to a small number of authorised project data analysts.
• Data used for analysis is not identifiable.
• Information is used only for the purposes described in this project.
• All data is handled in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020.
• Information is retained only as long as necessary and is generally kept for five years, in line with the Commission’s retention and disposal policy, before being securely destroyed or archived.

Health New Zealand’s privacy threshold assessment helps protect individual privacy rights, while Māori collective rights are upheld through appropriate governance processes.

The Commission acknowledges that Māori data is taonga. We are committed to:

• upholding Māori data governance when handling Māori data and information
• working towards partnership with Māori to determine how information is governed and managed across the data lifecycle
• upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi in all decisions relating to Māori data and information.

You have the right to request access to your information and to ask for correction if it is inaccurate or incomplete. Please contact: datagovernance@hqsc.govt.nz  

More information about your rights is set out in the Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020. 

If you have any queries or concerns about the use of your data, please contact help@majortrauma.nz  

Health Quality & Safety Commission Te Tāhū Hauora

133 Molesworth street, Thorndon, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

Email: datagovernance@hqsc.govt.nz

Website: www.hqsc.govt.nz