Advocacy, Information and Change

‘whiria te tangata, ka puta te oranga’

Services

Our Social Workers are here to support you and your family/whānau in our hospitals and in the community:

• Hospital admission and planning for when you leave hospital or finish treatment
• Mental Health Social Work support
• Information and referrals to community services
• Assisting with relationships between family and friends
• Pregnancy options and counselling
• Supporting Parents & children
• Disability support
• Care planning for the elderly
• Palliative care
• Travel assistance and accommodation information for patients and their family/ whanau

National travel assistance (NTA)

National travel coordinators are based at Te Nikau, Grey Hospital & Health Centre and Buller Health. They can help patients pay for travel if they have been referred from a Specialist to another Specialist appointment and have to travel at least 80km.

Social workers can provide you with claim forms if you are eligible for assistance. For more information see the Ministry of Health website.

Are social worker services free?

Our services are all free to people eligible for publicly funded health care in New Zealand. For more information see the Ministry of Health website.