Pursuant to section 32 of the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001 (“Act”), I, Ruihua Gu, Acting Group Manager, Quality Assurance and Safety, Regulatory Services, Manatū Hauora, the Ministry of Health (“Ministry”) under delegation from the Director-General of Health, designate Central Region’s Technical Advisory Services Limited (Central TAS) to audit the provision or likely future provision of the following kinds of health care services:

• Hospital care services (as defined in section 4(1) of the Act, that are:
• children’s health services,
• geriatric services,
• maternity services,
• medical services,
• mental health services,
• surgical services.
• Rest home care services (as defined in section 6(2) of the Act; and
• Residential disability services (as defined in section 4(1) of the Act), that are:
• intellectual,
• physical,
• psychiatric,
• sensory.

This designation is subject to the following conditions:

1. The Designated Auditing Agency (DAA) must comply with the requirements of the DAA Handbook issued by the Ministry and updated from time to time.

2. Promptly after giving a certified provider or prospective provider an audit report, the DAA must:

• complete the Ministry of Health Audit Report Tool and provide an electronic copy to the Ministry; and
• provide a summary of the audit report to the Ministry (refer to condition 9).

3. The DAA must provide any information about the auditing of health care services pursuant to the Act if requested in writing by the Ministry.

4. During the term of the DAA’s designation the DAA will allow the Ministry to audit or to commission the undertaking of audits or reviews of the DAA. This could also include attending audits being undertaken by the DAA. The Ministry may or may not notify the DAA of any audit or review.

5. The DAA must immediately notify the Ministry in writing of any significant change to the DAA, including but not restricted to:

• any change in ownership and/or control of the legal entity;
• any change in management personnel;
• any change to the Auditor Register (refer to condition 8); and
• any change in the status of any third-party accreditation the DAA may hold including evidence of such accreditation and copies of any Third-Party Accreditation Audit Reports or notifications in respect of their accreditation.

6. The DAA must conduct as a minimum at least one annual:

• internal audit that focuses on the DAA’s auditing activities undertaken pursuant to the Act, together with a compliance audit against the requirements of the DAA as set out in the Act; and
• management review in respect of the DAA’s programmes operated pursuant to the Act.

7. The DAA shall at all times operate an internal appeals system which is documented and conveyed in writing to all clients. Auditable records of the facts and outcomes of all client appeals shall be maintained by the DAA. The DAA must provide these records to the Ministry when requested in writing by the Ministry.

8. The DAA must provide in a timely manner when requested by the Ministry in writing the details of the name, auditing qualifications and experience, and if relevant, the area of clinical or service competency of each auditor or technical expert approved by the DAA to undertake audits pursuant to the Act.

9. The DAA must provide all documentation to the Ministry in the form prescribed by the Ministry.

10. The DAA must hold third party accreditation with a Ministry approved third party accreditation body.

11. The DAA must notify the Ministry of any intent to audit Hospital care services (as defined in section 4(1) of the Act, that are:

• children’s health services,
• geriatric services,
• maternity services,
• medical services,
• mental health services,
• surgical services.

And satisfy the Ministry as per section 33(b) of the Act that it has:

1. the technical expertise to audit the provision of services of that kind; and
2. effective systems in place for auditing the provision of services of that kind.

Dated at Wellington this 28th day of November 2022.

RUIHUA GU, Acting Group Manager, Quality Assurance and Safety, Regulatory Services, Ministry of Health.