Our whānau rooms are getting a makeover! Last year we asked for your feedback on our whānau rooms at Auckland City Hospital. We heard that whānau rooms need to create a welcoming and restorative environment for everyone who needs them.

We've worked with whānau and ward teams, alongside feedback from patients, whānau, staff, architects and our community to design calming spaces that value the important role whānau play in supporting patients.

An entrance mural will identify each whānau room, supporting patients and whānau to find their way around the hospital. The mural is a beautiful piece of artwork by Matekitātahi Rāwiri-McDonald of Toa Architects that reflects the origins of the rooms and the vital role whānau play in the health and wellbeing of our patients.

Work will start at the end of April, with the first seven spaces to be completed by the end of May 2021. The full 45 rooms will be refurbished over the next 2-3 years.

Thank you to the supporters of Auckland Health Foundation for funding these important spaces. 

This proposal outlined Auckland and Waitematā DHBs’ plan to implement a shared coordination service, the Child Health Information Link (CHIL) Hub, to support the National Child Health Information Platform (NCHIP). A survey was developed to gain an understanding from providers of the universal child health milestone services about how the proposed change will enhance service provision, help inform implementation plans and minimise unintended consequences. A total of 36 responses to the survey was received. The consultation period was extended from four to six weeks, following stakeholder requests for more time. Ten new and two revised responses were received in the extension period.

Further opportunities for feedback were held with two groups whose service would be most impacted by this proposal for change – Primary Health Care Organisations and Te Puna Manawa HealthWEST.

In alignment with the purpose of the consultation, the results will help to inform implementation plans and enhance service provision. Survey results can be read here and a summary is available here.

The Northern Region Transgender Health team recently collected feedback from those with experience of our services. Results of this work will be shared soon. Further information and updates on Transgender health services for the Northern region can be found here.

This community consultation sought to find out more about peoples’ experiences of choosing, changing and visiting their GP. Findings from four workshops with patients from the Auckland, Counties and Waitemata Metro DHB area are represented in this report.

Thank you to all those who participated.