Formerly Auckland DHB Pacific Planned Care Navigation Service

The Pacific Planned Care Navigation Service was established in June 2020 with the aim of addressing barriers and inequities experienced by Pacific people on the surgical pathway that eventually led to long waiting times and delayed surgery. A team of Pacific Clinical Nurse Specialists and the Nurse Unit Manager work closely with the adult and children's surgical services across Auckland Hospital to support patients and their families through patient education; navigating through the surgical pathway and healthcare system and advocating for our Pacific people to progress to surgery in a timely manner. Among the team Samoan, Tongan, Niuean and Fijian languages are spoken to support patients who need English language support. We have found that English is a language barrier for many Pacific people waiting to have surgery.

As well as supporting Pacific patients, our work has also enabled gathering of data (quantitative and narrative) to understand where system processes need to change to ensure equitable and timely care is provided.

Please note: we are not a transport service nor an interpreting service

Our model of care
From the point of engagement, we nurture our relationship with patients to deliver care that is culturally appropriate and empowering.  Six principles that underpin our work and care delivery are:

• Cultural appropriateness
• Family centred
• Improving equity
• Leadership through partnership
• Prosperity
• Life transformation & organisational cultural change

We can support Pacific people from first consultation through to surgery for those that will need surgery. The expectation is that there will be reduced time from referral to First Specialist Appointment and more significantly reduced time from First Specialist Consultation to surgical intervention, particularly for those requiring additional diagnostic or clinical input.