An opportunity for trauma service and community rehabilitation and kaupapa Māori providers to be part of a quality improvement project focused on strengthening post-acute rehabilitation and support for patients (tūroro) with major trauma.
‘The path of making things right: Te ara whakatika’ is a quality improvement project from the Trauma National Clinical Network, a partnership between Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora, ACC and Health Quality & Safety Commission Te Tāhū Hauora (the Commission).
The project is open to all services and patients with a focus on improvements for those experiencing greater levels of unmet health need. Our goal is to ensure everyone receives the support they need to recover well after leaving hospital.
Data shows that Māori under 65—especially young men, and those involved in transport-related incidents—experience higher rates of major trauma. While Māori models of health (hauora) are proven to support recovery, they are not widely used.
After severe brain injury, more than half of Māori and Pacific peoples miss out on specialist rehabilitation, compared to 40% of Europeans/others, due to systemic system barriers rather than personal choice. These gaps create significant unmet health needs and impact long-term recovery.
Strengthening follow-up care that incorporates mātauranga Māori and community-based support offers a powerful opportunity to improve outcomes, uphold independence (mana motuhake), and support whānau wellbeing.
This project combines this evidence with lived experiences to ensure the needs of patients (tūroro), family (whānau) and communities are reflected.
We’re seeking local project teams of inpatient trauma and community rehabilitation provider services to take part.
The project will bring together clinical, cultural, consumer and rehabilitation expertise to co-design (mahitahi), test and embed meaningful changes.
While the project is inclusive of all trauma patients, it will focus on improving access and outcomes for those with greater unmet health need – particularly Māori. This approach ensures care that restores health (hauora), family (whānau) wellbeing, and independence (mana motuhake).
Improvements to care quality and access are in scope, but changes to ACC’s internal processes are not. The project focuses on service delivery within existing frameworks, guided by collaboration and co-design with stakeholders.
Collecting and analysing data can be time-consuming, so we’re working with ACC to provide automated reports on trauma patients in specialist community rehabilitation, including breakdowns by ethnicity, age, rurality, injury type and social deprivation.
Some local data collection may still be needed for project-specific measures or kōrero with service users, but Commission staff are available to help with analysis and connect teams with consumers or other services if you can’t fill all the roles detailed on the EOI.
This approach reduces the burden on individual teams and builds collaboration across the trauma sector.
An online meeting with project team sponsors is planned for Wednesday 10 December at 11.00 am–12.00 pm, to provide more information about the project and answer any questions. If you would like to attend, please email help@majortrauma.nz.
If you have questions about participating or would like more information, please email help@majortrauma.nz
