Ngā Paerewa Health and Disability Services Standard consultation 2026

Overview

Ngā Paerewa Health and Disability Services Standard 2021 (Ngā Paerewa) came into effect in February 2022. Under the requirements of the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001 (the Act), a regular review of the Standard is required.

Consultation

The Ministry of Health invites organisations and individuals to give their feedback on the Standard and participate in a short consultation.

The feedback received will help to determine whether any changes are needed to the Standard. If a decision is made to amend or replace Ngā Paerewa, further in-depth consultation will take place at a later date. 

Please ensure only one consultation response is submitted on behalf of each organisation.

About Ngā Paerewa

Ngā Paerewa promotes the safe provision of health and disability services to the public, to establish consistent and reasonable standards for providing services safely and to encourage services to improve the quality of services.

It applies to the following health and disability services:

• hospital care, including children’s health services, geriatric services, maternity services, medical services, hospice services, mental health services, and surgical services, 
• rest home care,
• residential disability care for people with an intellectual, physical, psychiatric, or sensory disability, 
• fertility services,
• home and community support services, 
• abortion services.

Most of these providers are regulated under the Act and are audited against Ngā Paerewa.  

Home and community support services that hold a contract with Health New Zealand, ACC or Ministry of Social Development are contractually required to be audited against Ngā Paerewa.

Abortion Services are not formally audited against Ngā Paerewa (unless they are part of a certified provider, e.g. a public hospital surgical unit). However, providers are encouraged to follow the principles of Ngā Paerewa as part of best practice.

Primary healthcare services, such as those offered by a general practitioner or primary healthcare organisation, are not covered by the Act.  

For further information about the Standard see the Ministry of Health website - Ngā Paerewa Health and Disability Services Standard. 

Next steps 

Following analysis of responses, HealthCERT will make a recommendation to the Minister of Health on whether Ngā Paerewa should remain in force, be amended, or be replaced.  

We will communicate the final decision to our stakeholders, including those who have made a submission and provided their email address.

We look forward to receiving your feedback.