Palliative care in New Zealand arose from within local communities, supported by local funding and by volunteers to provide holistic care for adults with terminal cancer.
In 1985 a report was presented to a committee at a workshop in Auckland. From that workshop, a committee was created to investigate the setting up of a national hospice body. The Cancer Society contributed $1500 towards the establishment of this organisation. This organisation is now known as Hospice New Zealand.
The objectives of Hospice New Zealand included obtaining government funding, licensing, annual inspection of hospices, establising standards and monitoring them at a national level and providing education and resources.
Hospice New Zealand finally came to fruition in 1986 and the rest is history.
Today, Hospice New Zealand is actively involved in advocacy for fairer funding for service delivery and pay parity for our nurses. We are working closely with Health New Zealand to ensure a sustainable and equitable funding model for hospices. We support communities of practice across the hospice network and build awareness and understanding of the value of hospice care amongst the general public.
The Kōwhai
The kōwhai has been a feature of the Hospice New Zealand logo since the organisation was founded in 1986. The kōwhai is considered the unofficial flower of New Zealand, so is an appropriate emblem to represent the national organisation for all hospice services throughout the country.
Historically the kōwhai bark was used in rongoā (traditional Māori medicine) for its healing properties. Over past years as individual hospice services were created, many chose to include the kōwhai flower in their organisations logo, a tribute to the national scope of hospice services and membership of Hospice New Zealand.
In 2009 we started to look at the national branding of hospice services and Hospice New Zealand. A priority was to maintain the connection with the organisations history and build on the established link between hospice and the kōwhai.
Today the kōwhai flower remains a prominent element of the hospice ONE brand logo and brand, now adopted by most hospice services throughout New Zealand.