Disability Services Directorate
Disability Services Directorate - Provider Update Newsletter
Have your say on disability support services
The Disability Services Directorate (DSD) of the Ministry of Health is planning a series of consumer forums, hui and fono in towns and cities throughout the country. These forums provide us with an excellent opportunity to meet with those of you who use the services we fund.
The Deputy Director General of DSD, Geraldine Woods will be attending many of these meetings, so this is a great opportunity for you to meet her. We have also invited local Needs Assessment and Service Coordination (NASC) organisations and the Office of Disability Issues to attend part of each meeting. We would prefer people to register prior to the day so we can ensure adequate resources are available, however you are also welcome to just turn up.
For further information or to register please contact:
Email: Janette Searle Ph: 09 810 9488
Web: http://www.moh.govt.nz/disability
The forums will be held in:
- Wellington – Wednesday 12 April, RNZFB, 121 Adelaide Rd, Newtown, evening (start time to be confirmed)
- Christchurch – Wednesday 19 April, Copthorne Hotel, afternoon, 1pm start.
- Invercargill – Thursday 20 April, Hearing Association Building, 126-18 Leet St, 1-4pm.
- Dunedin – Friday 21 April, Dunningham Suite, Public Library, afternoon (start time to be confirmed).
- Auckland Pacific Fono (part of Pacific Disabilities Expo) – Saturday 22 April, 9am-3pm.
- Hamilton – Wednesday 26 April, Kingsgate Hotel, 100 Garnett Ave, Te Rapa afternoon, 1pm start.
- Auckland North – Thursday 27 April, Massey University, Albany, 6.30-9.30pm.
- Auckland South – Friday 28 April, Western Springs Garden Complex, morning, 10am start.
- Nelson – Monday 1 May, afternoon (venue and time to be confirmed).
- Napier – Wednesday 3 May, afternoon
- Wanganui – Friday 5 May, Memorial Hall, afternoon, 3pm start time.
- Wanganui Hui – Saturday 6 May, Memorial Hall, 9am-3pm (Maori development Manager will be manning a stand and holding a session at May Day expo).
- Waimate North - Wednesday 10 May, Tauwhara Marae, 11am start.
- Manukau City - Friday 16 June, Whaiora Marae, Otara, 10am - 3pm.
- Christchurch - Tuesday 20 June, Te Ahi Kaa, 10am - 3pm.
- Wainuiomata - Thursday 22 June, Wainuiomata Marae, 10am - 3pm.
- Hastings - Tuesday 27 June, Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga, 10am - 3pm.
Fono will be held in Auckland (22 April as part of the Pacific Disabilities Expo), Wellington and Christchurch.
Dates and locations for the remaining hui and fono will be available soon.
Development of the Environmental Support Services Framework Project
In June 2004 the Disability Services Directorate of the Ministry of Health contracted the Disability Resource Centre (DRC) Auckland to carry out a project that would seek to review the current Environmental Support Service (ESS) provision with a view to developing a revised framework.
The Ministry of Health funds a range of Disability Support Services (DSS) for people with disabilities of all ages, to increase independence and participation. ESS is one of a range of disability support services funded by the Ministry of Health.
ESS is the system by which disabled people of all age groups generally access equipment and items such as:
· Equipment for daily living (e.g. Shower chairs)
· Wheelchairs and other mobility equipment (e.g. walking frames)
· Housing modifications (e.g. bathroom alterations)
· Vehicle purchase and modification systems
· Seating solutions (e.g. wheelchair cushions)
· Communication and information technology equipment
· Hearing and Vision items (e.g. hearing aids and spectacle subsidies)
Currently two providers are contracted to nationally administer the funding and manage the ESS budget that the Ministry of Health allocates. Enable New Zealand manages funding for all areas south of Auckland (from the Bombay Hills) and accessable manages the Auckland and Northland area.
The overall objective of the project is to provide the Ministry of Health with information, analysis and recommendations for an improved Environmental Support Services framework that is:
· Disabled and older person centred
· Efficient and focused on expert service delivery
· Maximizes the use of available funding to benefit disabled people in an equitable way
In order to propose a revised framework, further objectives that will need to be achieved by the project work have been identified. These include:
· In-depth investigation and reporting on the key issues
· Review of the current access and eligibility criteria that includes addressing equity of service provision
· Review of the inclusion and participation of Maori and Pacific People in ESS
· Review of the Accredited Assessors Scheme. The assessment process for ESS is carried out by
accredited assessors.
The project will not only focus on identifying and improving the effectiveness of the current system in order to better enable fair and equitable access to available resources, but also ensure appropriate alignment with other DSS services and strategies.
The proposed ESS framework will express the objectives of the New Zealand Disability Strategy and the Health of Older People Strategy. It will reflect considerable disabled and older people focus and input, inclusion of Maori and Pacific Peoples, positive engagement of disability support service providers and key Government departments and agencies such as ACC, Ministry of Social Development and District Health Boards.
This is a national project to be completed by the end of April 2005. In an aim to achieve full engagement of the disability sector and key stakeholders, DRC Auckland has been compiling a database of individuals and agencies interested in the outcome of this project. People on this database will receive information about the project, advice on how the project is being conducted, updates on progress, and participation opportunities in different parts of the country.
The gathering of information will primarily be via feedback forums, consultations, written submissions and questionnaires.
There will be a number of feedback forums held across the country in many locations between early October 2004 and February 2005. These forums are for people to be able to provide feedback about the current system and suggestions for future system enhancement. As we arrange these forums throughout New Zealand, they will be posted on the Weka website ( www.weka.net.nz ).
We will also be using disability-related networks as well as the New Zealand Federation of Disability Information Centres to let people know about the forums.
The key locations that we will be holding feedback forums in are as follows:
Northland (x2, including 1 Hui)
Auckland (x 12, including 4 Pacific Fono, 2 Hui)
Hamilton (x 2, including 1 Hui)
Whakatane (x1)
Tauranga (x1)
Gisborne (x 2, including 1 Hui)
Palmerston Nth (x1)
Wanganui/ Taranaki (x1 Hui)
Wellington (x 7, including Pacific Fono and Hui)
Christchurch (x 6, including Hui)
West Coast (x1)
Dunedin (x 3)
Invercargill (x1)
As soon as venues, dates and times are confirmed, they will appear on the Weka web site - Calendar of Events. In the interim, if anyone has any queries, please do not hesitate to call Julianne, Sarah or Bernadette at the Disability Resource Centre Auckland on Ph: (09) 625-8069.
Please note that there is also opportunity for written feedback about Environmental Support Services at any time.
If you would like to be involved in this project or would prefer to give written feedback please contact:
DRC Auckland
PO Box 24-042
Royal Oak, Auckland
Phone: 09 625 8069
Fax: 09 624 1633
Email: Julianne or Bernadette
Attn: ESS Review Project Team
National Consumer Participation Project
In 2003 the Disability Services Directorate, Ministry of Health, contracted LIFE Unlimited to carry out a consumer participation project. This project was to recommend a mechanism to better support and increase involvement by disabled people, their family and whanau in DSD’s activities.
Many disabled people, families and whanau were involved in consultation. This was through forums at the end of last year and a questionnaire sent out earlier this year.
This part of the project is now complete and a mechanism has been suggested in a report to Disability Services Directorate (DSD). You can link through to the Executive Summary of this report.
The report basically recommends two aspects to a Consumer Participation mechanism. It recommends that
- a national consumer consortium is established made up of representatives from existing national consumer organisations
- each year forums are held throughout the country for disabled people their families and whanau to come along and hear about what DSD is doing and to give feedback to DSD about our activities.
Because there are insufficient Maori or Pacific specific disability organisations the report recommends additional Maori and Pacific specific forums to ensure that these groups are represented.
Following the report DSD worked out the cost of the proposed mechanism. As DSD is experiencing unprecedented demand for its services it has been decided to phase in the implementation of the proposed mechanism. This will also allow additional work to be carried out on the idea of the consortium as there were some concerns raised with this aspect of the mechanism. The concerns were around "who speaks for whom" and "what is a consumer organisation".
Forums, which were going to be held in October and November this year, will now take place around the country in February and March 2005. This is due to feedback that more time was needed to prepare for and advertise the forums. Exact dates and locations will be posted on this website and advertised locally.