Ngā Paerewa Health and Disability Services Standard Review
After a month long review process, The Ministry of Health has made the decision that further consultation should occur with the goal of making targeted amendments to Ngā Paerewa. The Health and Disability Services Standard sets the rules for how health and disability services must work across Aotearoa. It affects hospital care, mental health services, residential disability care, sensory disability services, and home and community support.
From our perspective, digital channels (websites, portals, telehealth, apps, e‑forms, patient communications, e‑learning, kiosks) are core to service delivery. We believe that clearer requirements for digital accessibility are needed and made a submission to the review so are thrilled.
Ngā Paerewa Health and Disability Services Standard plays an important role in setting expectations for safe, respectful and high-quality care across Aotearoa New Zealand.
It applies to services people rely on at important, and often vulnerable, times in their lives — including hospital care, mental health services, residential disability care, aged residential care, fertility services, and home and community support.
There is a lot to value in the standard. Its focus on people’s rights, whānau, equity, cultural safety and outcomes provides a strong foundation. It recognises that quality care is not only about what a service provides.
It is also about whether people can understand information, take part in decisions and get support in a way that works for them. We want those principles to remain at the heart of any changes.
Gaps to be addressed
The biggest gap is that digital accessibility is not clearly or consistently covered. Websites, patient portals, apps, online forms, telehealth, digital signs, kiosks and online learning are now part of everyday health and disability services. Yet the standard does not set a clear minimum level of accessibility for these channels.
That leaves a frustrating gap between what the standard aims to achieve and what a disabled person may experience. A service might support the right to effective communication, but still use a booking form that does not work with a keyboard, share a video without captions, or provide consent information in only one format.
When the requirements are not specific and measurable, providers and auditors are left to decide for themselves what good accessibility looks like.
Our suggestions
Access Advisors is not an advocacy organisation, but we care deeply about accessible health and disability services. That is why we shared practical feedback during the consultation.
Our main recommendation is simple: make digital accessibility clear across every relevant part of Ngā Paerewa. Websites, apps, portals, forms, telehealth platforms and kiosks should meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 at level AA.
Important information about rights, safety, consent, complaints and care should also be available in the formats people need, such as plain language, New Zealand Sign Language, Easy Read, captions, transcripts, large print and audio.
Accessibility also needs to be part of buying decisions, contracts and everyday service improvement. Providers need clear guidance about the evidence to collect, how to test with disabled people and how to fix barriers. Auditors need practical tools and training to check both technical accessibility and real user journeys. Staff and leaders also need training that fits their roles, with clear responsibility for accessibility instead of relying on individual goodwill.
Physical and digital access should work together too. Appointment instructions, maps, signs, messages and digital directions should help people complete one connected journey. Telehealth should work with keyboards and screen readers and support captions and interpreters.
Complaints and consent processes should give people accessible choices. Disabled people and people with accessibility expertise should also be included in governance and advisory groups, so decisions are shaped by lived experience.
A positive decision — and a real opportunity
We are pleased the Minister of Health has decided to hold further consultation, with the aim of making targeted amendments. This approach recognises that Ngā Paerewa is valuable while being honest that more work is needed. Listening to feedback and taking time to get the detail right is a positive and practical response.
The next consultation gives us a chance to turn broad commitments to rights and equity into clear requirements that improve everyday experiences. Targeted amendments can strengthen the standard without losing its focus on people and whānau. They can give providers clearer direction, help auditors know what evidence to look for and, most importantly, give disabled people greater confidence that services will work for them when they need care.
We welcome the opportunity to contribute again. We also hope disabled people are involved throughout the next stage, rather than only being asked to comment once decisions are nearly complete. With clear requirements, practical guidance and meaningful involvement, Ngā Paerewa can better reflect the digital reality of modern care and support safer, fairer and more accessible services for everyone.
Kōrero mai
If you would like practical help checking the accessibility of your website, app, portal or digital service, talk to the Access Advisors team. We can help you understand where the barriers are and what to improve first.