Home and Community Health Association

06/01/2026

Happy New Year-wishing you many blessings for the year ahead!

With the right support, people can truly bloom, and that’s exactly what our members deliver every day through quality home and community services.

Thank you for being the unseen structures - steadfast and essential - holding so many through the storms that impact their health and wellbeing.

🌹A perfect rose doesn’t bloom by chance, especially in windy Wellington. 🌹

It reflects the quiet, unseen work beneath the surface: rich soil, strong structures that protect it, and attentive care that so often goes unnoticed. As we step into a new year, it’s a reminder that flourishing comes from the right care, given at the right time, in the right way, and within the right environment.

In healthcare, - particularly with care at home- this foundation is collective. It is shaped by family carers; by quality providers of a mobile workforce of community nurses, allied health professionals, and support workers who show up each day with skill and compassion; by assessment teams and NASC services who listen carefully and translate need into structure; and tools like interRAI (assessment tool) that help ensure care is consistent, responsive, and grounded in evidence.

It is also enabled through partnership with GPs, hospitals, and rest homes providing clinical oversight, acute support, respite and long-term care when needed, alongside charity and community organisations that offer vital connection and assistance. A true life-journey approach rooted in appropriate nurturing.

🌹Our hope for 2026 is that, working together, we continue to build a cohesive framework that enables people who choose to stay at home to bloom 🌹 - supported by strong, reliable structures when needed - and enables quality providers to deliver needed care that upholds dignity, independence, and wellbeing.

22/12/2025

We have just sent our members summary details and an overview on changes to the employment leave system and below is a USEFUL guide by MBIE:

18/12/2025

A message from our CEO Lisa Foster:🎄 A fantastic way to close out a busy and productive year; continuing to raise awareness of the value, innovation, and opportunity that a strong, high-quality Home Care sector offers. Alongside the wider health eco-system of our amazing carers, residential care and retirement villages, hospital and NGO partners there are real opportunities for meaningful improvement.

My sincere thanks to Hon Christopher Luxon and Hon Casey Costello MP for their openness to listen, engage, and explore balanced options that enable people to access the care they need to remain safely at home.

The newly announced Ministerial Advisory Group, chaired by David Cunliffe, will bring valuable expert advice. I would also like to warmly congratulate two of our Board members on their appointment to this group - this includes Murray Penman and Shelley Cunningham from our HCHA Board. Their representation and broad expertise will be an enormous asset for the concluding recommendations and report.

A sustainable home care sector - supported by a skilled, compassionate workforce and a range of flexible service options - is essential to a healthier future for us all. This is not just a sector issue; it is a shared challenge and a shared solution for a healthier Aotearoa economically and morally.

🎄Merry Christmas to you all, may you have a safe and blessed festive season🎄

11/12/2025

Great to meet Nicola Willis MP at the Business NZ Major Companies Group event with the New Zealand National Party Caucus at Parliament this week. Raising awareness of the massive value that Home and Community Care provide is so important as we face health and economic challenges in the near future.
This evening event followed a session that brought together a range of insightful speakers - from Labour Kieran McAnulty MP highlighting the importance of bipartisan approaches, to David Farrar’s dynamic polling insights, and Microsoft’s John Galligan sharing perspectives on the accelerating impact of AI.
Sessions like these remind us how valuable it is to stay connected, keep learning, and remain curious about what’s happening across sectors.
🎄 They also offer a powerful space for shaping practical outcomes that recognise the deeply interconnected nature of our health system, economy, business environment, and ultimately the wellbeing of our nation.🎄

11/12/2025

HCHA will keep all our members updated as things progress on this vital topic.
The recent Supreme Court ruling that two full time carers of adult disabled children are employees of the Government could have impactful consequences and Minister Louise Upston has asked MSD Disability Support Services to "carefully" consider yesterday's ruling. Now there is a wait to see what comes next.
Could this mean that all full time carers will become employees of DSS? Is that what family carers want? I’m not sure but here are Employment lawyer Joe Williams comments (ZB interview)

A Supreme Court decision has finally settled the long-running battle over whether family carers should be paid.

08/12/2025

🌟Highlighting the remarkable potential of our HCHA members and the important mahi already being delivered to relieve hospital pressure and help people return safely to their homes🌟

When we talk about real impact in health, Canterbury’s Acute Demand Management Service shows exactly what innovative, well-supported home-based and clinical care can achieve. This is GP-led and community driven.

Across the broader homecare sector, providers are delivering similarly effective and creative solutions - several of which were recognised by the Minister at our recent Home and Community Health Association Forum in October. Creative use of our skilled community health practitioners including community physiotherapies, OT, nurses and care and support workers can make a massive difference.

Such initiatives help people return to familiar environments with the right level of care to support safe recovery at home.

These models show the capability that the Homecare sector holds to deliver high-quality care while also easing pressure on hospitals; and as shown here can operate the equivalent of several hospital wards within the community each day.

💰 Home-based care remains a smart, future-focused investment, especially as we face a rapidly ageing population and increasing demand. 💰

A Canterbury service is helping thousands of people receive timely, quality care in the comfort of their own homes, while freeing up hospital beds for those who need them most, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.

30/11/2025

The focus on longer healthier and happier lives for seniors needs a central sustainable home and community support service at its heart and we need inclusion in all plans ahead for real and impactful change.

Longer, healthier lives for our seniors are at the heart of the new Better Later Life action plan announced by Casey Costello with Grey power.

After Lisa Foster's (HCHA CEO) recent visits last week to services that provide the care and support enabling older people to live well in their homes and communities, it’s clear how vital a fairly paid, highly skilled, and motivated workforce is to achieving these goals. The plan is therefore a very welcome step forward.

By working together across sectors, being included alongside the NGOs that form the essential network of support for our older population, we can turn the plan’s ambitions into reality-and deliver the longer, better, happier lives our seniors truly deserve.

The new Better Later Life Action Plan is designed to provide practical support to help older New Zealanders live well and maintain their connections and independence.

27/11/2025

🥇🎊 It was truly humbling, and an absolute privilege, to be part of the fun-filled Christmas celebration with Hamish Crooks MNZM and their Board last night. Honouring the incredible achievements of Pacific Homecare's support workers & staff. 🏆

The cohesion, the alofa, the synergy, and the deep sense of belonging and respect are all palpable-led from the heart and lived out every day. This heartfelt spirit flows to the people this collective serves, creating a ripple effect of quality care and connection that outcome measures could never fully capture.

The value provided is immense, with amazing training opportunities improving qualifications and self-belief - the collective good that then permeates into the wider Pacific & Asian community is a true 🎁 gift.

27/11/2025

Great to hear from Natalie McMurtry - new Pharmac CEO at the BusinessNZ Health Forum on Wednesday.

Such warm and honest discussion by Natalie with a positive intention for reshaping and invigorating Pharmac albeit with realistic limitations.

27/11/2025

Life is complex, and as the saying goes- the only constant in life is change. That’s why it’s so uplifting to have mechanisms in motion with Hon Casey Costello's establishment of a Ministerial Advisory Group to focus on the realities and evolving needs of our ageing population.

Obvious vital aspects this group may consider include prevention factors and sustainable options for ageing at home, the right balance of home-based care, and timely access to respite and residential care when families need this support or choice.

This comprehensive approach can benefit from recognising the importance of each stage, strengthening the transitions between them, and ensuring that older people and their whānau have real choice at every step.

24/11/2025

The new Carers Strategy Action Plan is open for consultation, where relevant please take the time to have your say!

An important moment for Aotearoa’s caring community. 💙
MSD has opened consultation on the new Carers’ Strategy Action Plan - a long-term roadmap and rolling action plan to aim to better recognise and support unpaid and informal carers across the country.

From a home and community support perspective, we see every day how essential carers are, and how important it is that our providers work alongside families and whānau to ensure people can live safely and well at home. We understand the pressures carers face and the immense value they bring to the wider care system. That is why its important to have your say!

The draft plan focuses on three key areas: recognition, wellbeing, and financial security. MSD is seeking feedback to help shape what will make the greatest impact.
Submissions are open until 12 February 2026.
For all sector partners, and carers please share your insights and experience to help strengthen the support system that is so needed.

👉 More information and submission details are available on MSD’s website.

Consultation has started on a new action plan to recognise unpaid or informal carers and to provide a long-term roadmap for making progress on the issues they face, says Associate Social Development Minister, Penny Simmonds.

17/11/2025

A valuable report and insights that shines a light on the deep interconnection between health and the economy.

As the new Ministerial Advisory Group on Aged Care begins its work, I hope they consider this perspective and explore recommendations for a more integrated funding model. Social determinants of health, feeling safe and included in communities and being happy have meaningful impacts.

By leveraging underutilised yet cost‑effective resources such as home care, we can prioritise prevention, stabilisation, and wellbeing.

The outcome? A healthier, happier population — and stronger economic resilience that benefits us all

It’s time for governments of all stripes to treat the health of the population as a long-term investment, rather than a short-term cost.