Whakamarumaru i te tūmatanui
Keeping the public safe
The Nursing Council
The Council’s role is to ensure that nurses are competent and fit to practise nursing:
- It receives notifications of health or competence concerns that may impact on nurses’ ability to practise safely or competently.
- It investigates complaints about nurses where the conduct has not affected a health consumer or where the Health and Disability Commissioner has referred a complaint that affects a health consumer to the Council for appropriate action.
- It considers court convictions that may reflect adversely on a nurse’s fitness to practise.
The Council receives complaints about conduct or notifications about health or competence concerns from employers, other health professionals, health consumers or members of the public. It may also take action where no complaint or competence notification has been made.
The Health and Disability Commissioner
The role of the Commissioner (in summary) is to promote and protect the rights of health and disability service consumers and to investigate any action that appears to be in breach of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights.
- The Commissioner may investigate any health provider including the authority of a hospital and managers of institutions as well as anyone who provides health services to the public.
- The Commissioner receives complaints from health consumers or others on their behalf or may investigate on his or her own initiative.
HealthCert (Ministry of Health)
HealthCert is responsible for ensuring hospital, rest homes, residential disability care facilities and fertility providers provide safe and reasonable levels of service for consumers (as required by the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001).
- HealthCert issues certificates and reviews audit reports of these facilities.
- It also considers complaints about hospital and rest homes from residents, their families and others.